Home > Encyclopedia of Science > Space Station, International

• Origins
• ISS goals
• ISS systems and size
• Assembly in space
• Uses of space research
• The future in space

The International Space Station (ISS) is a permanent Earth-orbiting laboratory that will allow humans to perform long-term research in outer space. Led by the United States, the ISS draws upon the scientific and technological resources of sixteen nations. When completed in 2006, it will be the largest and most complex international scientific project in history.

Origins

The International Space Station had its beginnings in the cold war rivalry (period of silent conflict and tension) that existed between the United States and the then Soviet Union (also called the U.S.S.R.)...