International Space Station

The International Space Station is a $100 billion research outpost in low-Earth orbit. It was built by 15 different countries and overseen by 5 space agencies, among them NASA, Russia's Roscosmos agency, the European Space Agency, the Canadian Space Agency and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. Construction began in 1998 and rotating astronaut crews have lived on the ISS continuously since 2000. Today, the ISS is the largest human-built structure in space. See the latest news, photos and videos from ISS missions here.

Related Topics: Falcon Heavy, Incredible Space Tech, NASA, SpaceX, Interstellar Travel

Latest Updates

NASA’s Artemis 1 moon rocket — carried atop the crawler-transporter 2 vehicle — as it approaches Launch Pad 39B at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. NASA will roll SLS and Orion back to the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at Kennedy next week to prepare the rocket and spacecraft for launch.

The top space stories of the week!

By Elizabeth Howell published

Artemis 1 rehearsal declared a success, the International Space Station dodges Russian space debris, and NASA's InSight lander favors science over energy at its mission end.

An image of comet C/2017 K2 PANSTARRS (K2) taken in June 2017 by the Hubble Space Telescope's Wide Field Camera 3.

Space photos: The most amazing images this week!

By Elizabeth Howell published

See the best photos on Space.com this week.

Samantha Cristoforetti strikes a pose very similar to what star Sandra Bullock did in the 2013 movie "Gravity."

Astronaut cosplays as 'Gravity' spacefarer in epic space station shot

By Elizabeth Howell published

Samantha Cristoforetti channeled her inner Sandra Bullock in a space station nod to "Gravity."

The LightSail 2 solar-sailing spacecraft sent a selfie home as it completes its third year in orbit.

Pictures from space! Our image of the day

By Space.com Staff published

The solar-sailing spacecraft LightSail 2 has sent a selfie home as it completes its third year in orbit around Earth.

Expedition 67 astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti, of the European Space Agency, holds a yoga pose on the International Space Station.

Star pose: Astronaut demos microgravity yoga on International Space Station

By Elizabeth Howell published

Samantha Cristoforetti also plans to follow a 20-minute routine in microgravity in the near future.

Dream Chaser is capable of touching down on any runway that can accommodate a Boeing 737.

Dream Chaser space plane may land at New Mexico's Spaceport America

By Elizabeth Howell published

Another landing locale may have just opened up for the private Dream Chaser space plane.

space station diagram

Planned space station boost by Cygnus freighter cuts off 5 seconds into burn

By Meghan Bartels published

A planned reboost maneuver of the International Space Station ended after just 5 seconds for reasons currently unknown.

The International Space Station with the bright Earth below.

International Space Station dodges orbital debris from Russian anti-satellite test

By Tariq Malik published

A piece of Russian space junk forced the International Space Station to steer clear to avoid a chance encounter with orbital debris on Thursday (June 16).

NASA astronauts Suni Williams, left, Barry "Butch" Wilmore, center, and Mike Fincke, right, watch as a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket with Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft aboard is rolled out of the Vertical Integration Facility to the launch pad at Space Launch Complex 41 ahead of the Orbital Flight Test-2 (OFT-2) mission, Wednesday, May 18, 2022, at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

NASA assigns 2 astronauts to fly on Boeing Starliner's 1st crewed mission

By Mike Wall published

NASA astronauts Barry "Butch" Wilmore and Suni Williams will fly on Crew Flight Test, Starliner's first crewed mission to the International Space Station.

NASA astronaut Jessica Watkins posted this photo of the moon, taken from the International Space Station, on Twitter on June 9, 2022.

Artemis astronaut Jessica Watkins marvels at the moon from space station (photo)

By Mike Wall published

The moon floats just above Earth's life-giving atmosphere in a gorgeous photo snapped from the International Space Station by NASA astronaut Jessica Watkins.

David Leestma, Sandra Magnus and Chris Ferguson stand with prior inductees after being enshrined into the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame at Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida on Saturday, June 11, 2022. Behind them, from left to right: Tom Jones, Scott Altman, John Blaha, Charlie Precourt, Janet Kavandi, Pam Melroy, Bob Cabana, Dick Covey, Bonnie Dunbar, Charlie Bolden, Curt Brown, Kathy Thornton, John Grunsfeld, Eileen Collins, Jerry Ross, Susan Helms and Frank Culbertson.

Shuttle fliers enter Astronaut Hall of Fame with eye on future in space

By Robert Z. Pearlman published

At an event celebrating their past, the new inductees into the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame, David Leestma, Sandy Magnus and Chris Ferguson, looked to the future for the promise of space exploration.

A close-up view of a robotic SpaceX Dragon capsule atop its Falcon 9 rocket at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on June 2, 2021, in preparation for the company’s 22nd Commercial Resupply Services mission for NASA to the International Space Station.

SpaceX cargo launch to space station delayed 2 more weeks, to July 11

By Mike Wall published

The launch of SpaceX's next cargo mission to the Internationl Space Station has been pushed back at least two more weeks, to no earlier than July 11.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches a Cargo Dragon spacecraft on the CRS-21 resupply mission for NASA on Dec. 7, 2020.

NASA, SpaceX now targeting June 28 for next Dragon cargo launch after delay

By Josh Dinner published

Elevated vapor measurements during propellant loading of SpaceX's Dragon cargo capsule have delayed the launch of the CRS-25 mission to no earlier than June 28.

An artist depiction of a large reflector manufactured in orbit.

Airbus sending 3D printer to space station next year to pave way for off-Earth factories

By Tereza Pultarova published

European aerospace company Airbus will send a 3D printer to the International Space Station next year as a first step in its plans to set up an orbital satellite factory.

SpaceX’s Cargo Dragon spacecraft is lifted aboard a recovery vessel after splashing down in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Florida on Thursday, Sept. 30, 2021.

SpaceX's next cargo launch to space station delayed due to odd propellant reading

By Mike Wall published

SpaceX's next cargo mission to the International Space Station won't launch this week after all.

Russian cosmonaut Valery Ryumin aboard the flight deck of space shuttle Discovery during the STS-91 mission to the Russian space station Mir in June 1998.

Valery Ryumin, cosmonaut who launched to Salyut and Mir space stations, dies at 82

By Robert Z. Pearlman published

Russian cosmonaut Valery Ryumin, who launched on four space station missions including the final U.S. space shuttle flight to dock with the former Mir outpost, has died.

Boeing's Starliner (left) during Orbital Flight Test 2 as it approaches the International Space Station, as seen in an image taken from London on May 20, 2022.

Wow! International Space Station and Boeing Starliner captured in the same incredible image

By Elizabeth Howell published

"It felt like no other ISS imaging session before," photographer Szabolcs Nagy said.

A close-up view of a robotic SpaceX Dragon capsule atop its Falcon 9 rocket at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on June 2, 2021, in preparation for the company’s 22nd Commercial Resupply Services mission for NASA to the International Space Station.

Moon bricks, space sutures and more: Meet the science SpaceX is flying to the space station this week

By Josh Dinner published

Experiments headed to the space station on a SpaceX Dragon capsule this week will research how microgravity affects wound healing, creating concrete with organic compounds and more.

Still image of the Russian Progress 81 uncrewed cargo ship arriving at the International Space Station with blue Earth behind.

Russia launches new Progress 81 cargo ship to International Space Station

By Mike Wall published

Russia launched a new robotic cargo mission to the International Space Station early Friday (June 3), its first resupply mission to the orbiting lab since it invaded Ukraine.

A multispectral satellite images of an artillery battalion actively firing in a southeasterly direction on March 11, 2022 as seen by the WorldView-2 satellite for Maxar Technologies.

Ukraine invasion's impacts on space exploration: Live updates

By Space.com Staff published

The Russia-Ukraine war has already stretched into space, with satellites providing internet and intel and longstanding international relations in outer space shifting rapidly.