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International Space Station in 2011, as seen from STS-134. Origins of the International Space Station covers the origins of ISS. The International Space Station programme represents a combination of three national space station projects: the Russian/Soviet Mir-2, NASA's Space Station Freedom including the Japanese KibÅ laboratory, and the European Columbus space stations.
This is an accepted version of this page This is the latest accepted revision, reviewed on 7 February 2025. Inhabited space station in low Earth orbit (1998–present) "ISS" redirects here. For other uses, see ISS (disambiguation). International Space Station (ISS) Oblique underside view in November 2021 International Space Station programme emblem with flags of the original signatory states ...
International Space Station mockup at Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. The space station is located in orbit around the Earth at an altitude of approximately 410 km (250 mi), a type of orbit usually termed low Earth orbit (the actual height varies over time by several kilometers due to atmospheric drag and reboosts).
The first space rendezvous was accomplished by Gemini 6A and Gemini 7 in 1965.. Records and firsts in spaceflight are broadly divided into crewed and uncrewed categories. Records involving animal spaceflight have also been noted in earlier experimental flights, typically to establish the feasibility of sending humans to outer space.
The International Space Station has been the target of varied criticism over the years. Critics contend that the time and money spent on the ISS could be better spent on other projects—whether they be robotic spacecraft missions, space exploration, investigations of problems here on Earth, or just tax savings. [95]
The project began as Space Station Freedom, a US only effort, but was long delayed by funding and technical problems.Following the initial 1980's authorization (with an intended ten year construction period) by Ronald Reagan, the Station Freedom concept was designed and renamed in the 1990s to reduce costs and expand international involvement.
SpaceX and NASA on Sunday successfully launched their joint Crew-8 mission to the International Space Station from the NASA Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
The highest number of people at the same time on one space station has been 13, first achieved with the eleven day docking to the ISS of the 127th Space Shuttle mission in 2009. The record for most people on all space stations at the same time has been 17, first on May 30, 2023, with 11 people on the ISS and 6 on the TSS. [2]