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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

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Cosmonaut Oleg Novitsky shared this photo of the International Space Station on Twitter on Sept. 29, 2021. He and two colleagues were relocating a Russian Soyuz spacecraft from one port to another at the time.

International Space Station: Live updates

By Space.com Staff

Find out what's going on at the International Space Station.

Russian actress Yulia Peresild (left), cosmonaut Oleg Novitskiy (center) and director Klim Shipenko are welcomed back to Earth after their successful Soyuz capsule landing on the steppes of Kazakhstan on Oct. 17, 2021.

That's a wrap! Soyuz lands with film crew after space station movie shoot

By Robert Z. Pearlman

The first film crew to fly into space has returned to Earth after 12 days shooting scenes for a movie on the International Space Station. Yulia Peresild and Klim Shipenko landed with Oleg Novitskiy.

The 10 people living and working on the International Space Station share dinner in a photograph shared by cosmonaut Oleg Novitsky on Oct. 14, 2021.

Russian film crew returns to Earth from space station today. Here's how to watch online.

By Elizabeth Howell

A Russian cosmonaut, actress and producer-director will all return to our planet Sunday (Oct. 17).

Star Trek actor William Shatner (second from right) and his NS-18 crew pose for a photo on Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket during their launch on Oct. 13, 2021.

The top space stories of the week!

By Doris Elin Urrutia

These are the top space stories this week from Space.com.

The Russian Soyuz MS-18 spacecraft is seen docked to Russia's Nauka multipurpose laboratory module at the International Space Station after a relocation maneuver on Sept. 28, 2021.

Errant Russian spacecraft thruster firing tilts space station by accident again

By Mike Wall

Unplanned thruster firings by a Russian spacecraft briefly knocked the International Space Station off kilter today (Oct. 15), the second such incident in less than three months.

Earth observation satellites of U.S. company Maxar Technologies captured these high resolution images of the ongoing volcanic eruption on the Spanish island of La Palma on Oct. 14, 2021.

Pictures from space! Our image of the day

By Space.com Staff

New high-resolution satellite images reveal lava rivers spilling from the Cumbre Vieja volcano on the Spanish island of La Palma as the devastating eruption shows no signs of stopping.

International Space Station with Earth backdrop

International Space Station: Facts, History & Tracking

By Elizabeth Howell

The ISS is the most complex scientific and technological endeavor ever undertaken.

Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft sits atop its United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket at the launch pad at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida ahead of the planned Aug. 3, 2021 launch of the Orbital Flight Test-2 (OFT-2) mission. Prelaunch tests revealed an issue with 13 valves in Starliner’s service module, delaying the flight. NASA and Boeing are now targeting the first half of 2022 for the liftoff.

Boeing's next Starliner test launch for NASA slips to 2022

By Mike Wall

Boeing's Starliner astronaut taxi won't get off the ground this year after all.

The official crew portrait of the SpaceX Crew-3 mission: (from left) Commander Raja Chari and pilot Thomas Mashburn, both NASA astronauts; mission specialist Matthias Maurer of the European Space Agency; mission specialist Kayla Barron of NASA.

Crew-3 astronauts are ready and excited for 6-month SpaceX mission

By Chelsea Gohd

Four astronauts are about to spend six months living in Earth orbit, and they cannot wait.

The official crew portrait of the SpaceX Crew-3 mission, which will fly on the newly named Crew Dragon "Endurance." From left: Commander Raja Chari and pilot Thomas Mashburn, both NASA astronauts; mission specialist Matthias Maurer of the European Space Agency; mission specialist Kayla Barron of NASA.

Meet 'Endurance': New SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule gets a name

By Mike Wall

Endurance is scheduled to launch toward the International Space Station on Oct. 30, kicking off SpaceX's Crew-3 mission.

The crew for SpaceX's Crew-3 mission.

SpaceX's Crew-3 is ready for a Halloween weekend launch

By Chelsea Gohd

SpaceX's newest crewed mission to space is ready for launch!

SpaceX's Crew-2 Crew Dragon Endeavour arrives at the International Space Station with four astronauts aboard in a smooth docking on April 24, 2021 one day after launching into orbit.

NASA reassigns 2 astronauts from Boeing's Starliner to SpaceX's Crew Dragon

By Mike Wall

Two astronauts expected to fly on early missions of Boeing's crew capsule will instead ride to orbit with SpaceX, NASA announced today (Oct. 6).

NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy is pictured on a spacewalk during the STS-127 mission to the International Space Station, on July 27, 2009.

Filming 'Among the Stars' with Disney Plus meant a 2-year journey for astronaut Chris Cassidy. Here's what he learned.

By Jeff Spry

The NASA veteran chats about filming a crucial repair mission to the International Space Station

The Soyuz MS-19 spacecraft carrying Russian actress Yulia Peresild, producer-director Klim Shipenko and cosmonaut Anton Shklaperov approaches the International Space Station on Oct. 5, 2021 in this still from station cameras captured during docking operations.

Russian film crew docks at space station to shoot movie in orbit

By Tereza Pultarova

A Russian actress and director arrived at the International Space Station Tuesday (Oct. 5) on a Soyuz spacecraft to shoot a movie in orbit.

Cosmonaut Oleg Novitsky shared this photo of the International Space Station on Twitter on Sept. 29, 2021. He and two colleagues were relocating a Russian Soyuz spacecraft from one port to another at the time.

Cosmonaut photos show International Space Station from rare perspective

By Mike Wall

Two images shared on Twitter last week by cosmonaut Oleg Novitsky show the International Space Station in all its complex, multimodular glory.

Russia's Soyuz MS-19 spacecraft, specially decorated to be filmed for a movie, launches for the International Space Station from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, on Oct. 5, 2021.

3, 2, 1 ... action! Russia launches film crew to shoot movie on space station

By Robert Z. Pearlman

Russian actress Yulia Peresild, producer Klim Shipenko and cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov have launched on a 12-day mission to the International Space Station to film a feature-length movie in space.

In photos: Russian film crew launching to the International Space Station

By Space.com Staff

On Oct. 5, 2021, Russia will launch a film crew to the International Space Station for a 12-day mission to film part of a movie in space. See photos of the crew and their mission here!

SpaceX's Dragon capsule streaks across the evening sky on Sept. 30, 2021, as it returned to Earth from a cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station.

Skywatchers see SpaceX's Dragon cargo ship streak across the night sky as it returned to Earth

By Rahul Rao

Late Thursday night (Sept. 30) in the southeastern United States, anybody looking up could have glimpsed a brilliant streak, trailing down into the Atlantic Ocean off Florida's east coast.

European Space Agency astronaut Thomas Pesquet snapped a photo of a stunning aurora on Aug. 20 from the International Space Station.

Superbright aurora lights up Earth's night side in incredible image from space

By Yasemin Saplakoglu

An astronaut aboard the International Space Station (ISS) captured a stunning new photo of the luminous green and red lights of an aurora hugging clouds swirling around Earth's night side.

A shot of the SpaceX CRS-23 Dragon cargo capsule departing the International Space Station on Sept. 30, 2021.

SpaceX Dragon cargo ship returns to Earth with gravity-sensitive experiments

By Tereza Pultarova

SpaceX's Dragon cargo spacecraft returned to Earth tonight (Sept. 30), packed full of science experiments after one month at the International Space Station.