Stock Photo - Krunichev State Research and Production Space Center (KhSC), Moscow, September 1997 - The Service Module, the first fully Russian contribution to the International Space Station and the third station element, under construction in the Moscow factory. In the foreground is the forward portion of the module, including the spherical transfer compartment and its three docking ports, one facing up, one facing down and one facing forward. The forward port will dock with the connected Functional Cargo Block and Node 1 following the Service Module's planned launch on a Russian rocket in December 1998. The Service Module will serve as the early cornerstone for human habitation of the station, providing early living quarters, life support, guidance and navigation and propulsion. Manufacturing of the module at KhSC will be completed in November 1997 and it will be moved to the Rocket Space Corporation-Energia facilities in the Moscow suburbs for pre-launch testing. The module is scheduled to be shipped to the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazahkstan, to begin launch preparations in May 1998.