Nasa has reportedly won White House backing to extend the life of the International Space Station for four years until 2024.
Construction of the ISS began in 1998 and is a joint venture between the US, Russia, Canada, Japan, and states in the European Space Agency (Esa).
These partners will have to support any extension for it to be implemented.
Their current commitments run to 2020, but many engineers believe the station could work safely until 2028.
At the moment, the station is solely reliant on Russian Soyuz capsules to rotate the platform's six-person crew.
Nasa is seeding commercial American companies to help them design and build alternatives.
It's hoped a mini-shuttle, known as the Dream Chaser, will make its maiden voyage into orbit in 2016, in an un-manned, autonomous configuration; and then fly its first manned mission in 2017.