FARNBOROUGH - Boeing and Khrunichev plan to launch the second FGB module that the Russian company built as a commercial space module attached to the International Space Station, the pair said today.

The so-called FGB 2 would offer about 20 cubic meters of pressurized space for living, storage or science work, said Brewster Shaw, Boeing's ISS vice president and general manager. Finishing and launching the module would cost about $200 million, depending on customer requirements.

It could be outfitted with the same type of lockers as are used in the space shuttle's middeck. "There's a total capability of 30 middeck lockers there," Shaw said.

The module also could be equipped with tanks to carry either 2 metric tons or 4 metric tons of fuel, most of which would be transferred to the station.

The second FGB module would dock to the Nadir port of Zarya, the first FGB module that was launched in November 1998. It also would transfer fuel to the station core via Zarya. The additional module also could improve the station's roll control, Shaw said.

The spare FGB was built in case the first one was destroyed or badly damaged.

Shaw and Sergei Shaevich, ISS program director for Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center, said the module could be on orbit by mid-2002. It would be launched on a Proton booster. The two companies "consulted with NASA and the Russian Aviation and Space Agency" Shaevich said. Boeing is negotiating with potential customers, Shaw said.

The commercial space module could be equipped with HDTV and high-bandwidth communications equipment. Shaw said it also could be used for training, since astronauts on the ISS will not be able to train for every space walks as exhaustively as U.S. astronauts have in the past. Science or other packages also could be attached to the outside of the module.

Shaevich said NASA has certified the second module for use on the station. Its critical systems have a 15-year design life.