The Zvezda is scheduled to join the other ISS components already in orbit on July 26. Computers will carry out the mating of the two modules, but should a miscalculation occur, two cosmonauts are on standby to fly to Zvezda aboard a Souyz rocket and do it manually.

If indeed all goes well with the docking, a flurry of ISS assembly activity may overtake the global launch ranges as the project moves into high gear. Emerging from a 19-month standown, U.S., European and Canadian hardware components collecting dust in high-bays will enter final launch stage preparations.

Among the space puzzle pieces waiting to reach low-Earth orbit are the U.S. laboratory Destiny and the Canadian construction crane.

Likewise, the docking of Zvezda now can set the stage for the first crew–a three-person team–to inhabit ISS by the end of this year. NASA has slated this shuttle flight to occur Oct. 30 with the astronauts arriving at ISS two days later.