Would a solution be to launch and land the shuttles without astronauts
aboard? Russian Soyouz capabilities would be hired and financed to
send astronauts to space shuttles in orbit and to the International
Space
Station, till
the USA develop their own capability.
Most if not all functions of a space shuttle are already automated or
can be
remote controlled by ground-based operators. I may be wrong but I think
it wouldn't cost much to adapt the shuttle fleet to make completely
uninhabited flights. The fact the shuttles would be launched and landed
with no
humans aboard means drastic savings and faster turnarounds, either
because less or no more
life-support mechanisms have to be maintained and because lots of
safety procedures can be lowered. Also the shuttle fleet could be
retired later and be used for experimentations. With no astronauts and
fewer or no life suport systems a shuttle can carry more cargo to orbit.
The operation to maintain the Hubble Space Telescope can
be performed by sending a fully equipped but uninhabited Space Shuttle
to
low orbit. It would be joined there by a Soyuz vessel piloted by three
astronauts. The Soyuz would dock the Space Shuttle and stay docked
during the whole operation. The assembly would slowly rise towards the
orbit
altitude of the HST, the astronauts would perform the repair and
maintenance operations, then the whole would slowly travel back to low
altitude where it would separate. I suppose a Soyuz
contains enough fuel to deorbit even from the altitude of the
HST. If more than three astronauts are needed, use more Soyuz...
Maybe add an empty Soyuz for redundancy or keep one ready to launch.
Many combinations and compromises are possible:
Let two Soyuz fly in formation with a Shuttle and
possibly equip the Shuttle to let both Soyuz dock at the same time.
I suppose delivering cargo to the ISS can be done with completely
uninhabited shuttles, with no life support systems. Yet if docking a
Shuttle with the ISS is considered critical, let one
or more astronauts spacewalk from the ISS towards an arriving cargo
Shuttle or let them use a Soyuz to get onboard the Shuttle.
Keep a set of empty Soyuz available in orbit for Shuttle
emergencies. Possibly equip them with supplementary fuel reservoirs to
allow quick and important orbit modifications to join a Shuttle. Once
those Soyuz reach their end of life, use them for missions for the ISS
or other purposes.