International Space Station

The first module (Zvezda) launched in 1998 and the station was completed in 2011. To date, over 1500 science experiments, 139 flights have been made by 68 partnering countries.

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Get an idea of what it feels like to see the International Space Station from the outside, as an astronaut on a spacewalk. Put your 3D glasses on to appreciate the size of humankind's orbital laboratory and watch a Soyuz spacecraft undock and a docking with ESA's supply spacecraft Automated Transfer Vehicle.

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Public Affairs Officer Dan Huot interviews Masazumi Miyake, the International Space Station Program Manager for the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). Japan's main contribution to the space station is the "Kibo" Japanese Experiment Module. Kibo contains a laboratory module, a stowage module, an airlock, a robotic arm and an external platform.


Miyake talks about the nanosatellites, known as Cubesats, three of which were deployed from Kibo Tuesday at 7:10 a.m. EST; a fourth will be released Wednesday at 2:50 a.m. Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata operated Kibo's robotic arm to maneuver a deployer mechanism containing all four satellites from inside Kibo's airlock.

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The Progress 53 cargo ship successfully launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on a mission to resupply the International Space Station.

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The ISS's robotic arm captured the Orbital Sciences' cargo vehicle on January 12, 2014. It is carrying supplies and science experiments. See and read about its launch:

"Orbital Sciences Launches Landmark Private Cargo Mission to Space Station"

by Tariq Malik
January 9, 2014

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Expedition 44 Soyuz Commander Oleg Kononenko of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos), NASA Flight Engineer Kjell Lindgren and Flight Engineer Kimiya Yui of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency launched on the Russian Soyuz TMA-17M spacecraft on July 23, Kazakh time from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan to begin a six-hour journey to the International Space Station and the start of a five-month mission.

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After launching earlier in the day in their Soyuz TMA-17M spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, Expedition 44 Soyuz Commander Oleg Kononenko of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos), NASA Flight Engineer Kjell Lindgren and Flight Engineer Kimiya Yui of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency arrived at the International Space Station on July 23 following a four-orbit, six-hour rendezvous. They docked their craft to the Rassvet module on the Russian segment of the complex.

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A few hours after docking, Expedition 44 Soyuz Commander Oleg Kononenko of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos), NASA Flight Engineer Kjell Lindgren and Flight Engineer Kimiya Yui of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency opened hatches and were greeted by station Commander Gennady Padalka of Roscosmos, NASA Flight Engineer Scott Kelly and Russian Flight Engineer Mikhail Kornienko. As the crew met face to face in orbit, the families of the newly arrived crew and American, Russian and Japanese space officials viewed the activities from a conference facility in Baikonur near the launch site.

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Aboard the International Space Station, Expedition 45 Flight Engineer Kimiya Yui of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) used the station’s Canadarm2 robotic arm to release the unpiloted Japanese “Kounotori” H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV-5) Sept. 28, completing its five-week stay at the complex. The HTV delivered five tons of supplies and scientific experiments to the outpost following its launch from the Tanegashima Space Center in southern Japan Aug. 19 and its arrival at the station Aug. 24.

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On Dec. 9, three days after its launch atop an Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, the Orbital ATK Cygnus cargo craft arrived at the International Space Station with more than three tons of supplies and experiments to the station residents. This was the first flight of an enhanced Cygnus spacecraft to the station featuring greater payload capacity and the first Cygnus mission using the Atlas V launch system.

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After launching earlier in their Soyuz TMA-20M spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, Expedition 47-48 Soyuz Commander Alexey Ovchinin and Flight Engineers Oleg Skripochka of Roscosmos and Jeff Williams of NASA arrived at the International Space Station on Mar. 19. The new crewmembers will join station Commander Tim Kopra of NASA and Flight Engineers Yuri Malenchenko of Roscosmos and Tim Peake of the European Space Agency, already onboard the station

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As crew on the international space station performed routine tests, rocket thrusters began firing out of nowhere. Even though the engines only fired for a minute, it was enough to change the space station's orbit. Could this and other mysterious glitches be signs of cyber attack?

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NASA astronaut Kate Rubins, cosmonaut Anatoly Ivanishin of the Russian space agency Roscosmos, and astronaut Takuya Onishi of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency launched on the Russian Soyuz MS-01 spacecraft at 7:36 a.m. Baikonur time, July 7 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan to begin a two-day journey to the International Space Station and the start of a four-month mission.

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After launching on July 7 in their Soyuz spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, Expedition 48-49 Soyuz Commander Anatoly Ivanishin of Roscosmos and Flight Engineers Kate Rubins of NASA and Takuya Onishi of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency arrived at the International Space Station July 9, to complete their two-day journey. The trio is scheduled to spend about four months on the station contributing to more than 250 experiments in fields such as biology, Earth science, human research, physical sciences and technology development.

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Soyuz MS-01 spacecraft docked with the International Space Station, on 9 July 2016, at 04:06 UTC (12:06 a.m. EDT). At 06:26 UTC (2:26 a.m. EDT), the hatch was opened and Expedition 48/49 crew members, astronaut Kathleen “Kate” Rubins, cosmonaut Anatoly Ivanishin and astronaut Takuya Onishi, entered the International Space Station.

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Two rockets blasted off, one after another, toward the same destination. This was the first time two different cargo ships, a Progress and a Dragon, were in orbit at the same time to supply the space station.

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After launching earlier in the day in their Soyuz MS-04 spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, Expedition 51-52 Soyuz Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin of Roscosmos and Flight Engineer Jack Fischer of NASA arrived at the International Space Station April 20 to complete a six-hour journey, docking their vehicle to the Poisk module on the Russian segment of the complex.

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After launching in their Soyuz MS-06 spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, Expedition 53-54 Soyuz Commander Alexander Misurkin of Roscosmos and flight engineers Mark Vande Hei and Joe Acaba of NASA arrived at the International Space Station. The trio docked their Soyuz to the Poisk module on the Russian segment of the complex, to complete their six-hour journey to the station.

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