The first rudimentary station was created in 1969 by the linking of two Russian Soyuz vehicles in space, followed by other stations and developments in space technology until construction began on the ISS in 1998, aided by the first reusable spacecraft ever developed: the American shuttles. As the Space Age began in the 1950s, designs of “space planes” and stations dominated popular media. The idea of a space station was once science fiction, existing only in the imagination until it became clear in the 1940s that construction of such a structure might be attainable by our nation. It is about four times as large as the Russian space station Mir and five times as large as the U.S.

The space station is approximately the size of a football field: a 460-ton, permanently crewed platform orbiting 250 miles above Earth. It is the result of unprecedented scientific and engineering collaboration among five space agencies representing 15 countries. Just as the oceans opened up a new world for clipper ships and Yankee traders, space holds enormous potential for commerce today. The International Space Station (ISS) took 10 years and more than 30 missions to assemble.

View of space station from earth