Tanto quanto eu posso dizer, esta é uma criação do autor.
Citações de Space.com
The International Space Station, a $100 billion project of 15 nations, often is called simply "station" or "ISS" by NASA flight controllers.
"We started talking years ago about naming ISS," Mike Suffredini, NASA's International Space Station program manager, told SPACE.com. "You know, we've been busy building it. We haven’t been worrying about what we're going to call it."
During the first mission to the station, Expedition 1, NASA astronaut Bill Shepherd used the call sign "Alpha" to refer to the facility. The name has been used informally off and on over subsequent missions.