A History of the International Space Station

An Orbiting Legacy

Orbiting approximately 250 miles above the Earth, a sprawling, city-sized structure glides silently through the void. It is the International Space Station (ISS), the largest and most complex international project ever undertaken. More than a laboratory, it is a testament to human ingenuity and a symbol of post-Cold War cooperation, a venture that united former adversaries in a common cause. Built by a consortium of nations, this orbital outpost has been continuously inhabited since the year 2000, a home and workplace for over 290 individuals from more than 20 countries. Its story is a journey from geopolitical rivalry to scientific collaboration, from on-orbit construction to groundbreaking discovery. Now, as it enters its final decade, the station is poised to fulfill one last, vital mission: to birth a new era of commercial activity in low-Earth orbit before taking a final, planned plunge into the Pacific Ocean. This is the story of its past, its present, and its future.

From Rivalry to Rendezvous: The Station’s Genesis

The existence of the International Space Station is a paradox. It stands today as the world’s foremost symbol of peaceful international cooperation in science and technology, yet it was born not from an idealistic vision of partnership, but from the ashes of intense competition. Its foundations were laid during the Cold War, a period defined by the fierce technological and ideological struggle between the United States and the Soviet Union. To understand the station, one must first understand the decades of rivalry that preceded it.

Echoes of the Space Race

The dawn of the space age was marked by competition, not collaboration. The Soviet Union’s successful launch of Sputnik 1 on October 4, 1957, sent a shockwave through the United States, igniting a “space race” that would define the next two decades. This contest drove both superpowers to rapidly develop the technologies for human spaceflight, culminating in the American Apollo Moon landings. Beyond the Moon both nations recognized the strategic and scientific value of maintaining a permanent human presence in Earth orbit.

This led to the development of the first space stations. The Soviet Union was the pioneer, launching Salyut 1 in 1971. Over the next decade, the Salyut program provided Soviet cosmonauts with invaluable experience in long-duration missions. The United States followed with Skylab in 1973, a comparatively large workshop that hosted three crews but was ultimately a short-term project. The Soviets continued to build on their expertise, launching the Mir space station in 1986. Mir was a third-generation, modular station that would be inhabited for 15 years, a remarkable achievement that solidified Russia’s leadership in long-duration spaceflight.

Throughout this period, the concept of a Western space station was explicitly framed as a counterpoint to Soviet efforts. It was seen as a necessary demonstration of the technological superiority of the “free world.” This competitive drive was the primary motivation behind the early American plans for a permanent orbital outpost.

A Handshake in Orbit

The direct political origin of the ISS can be traced to U.S. President Ronald Reagan. In his 1984 State of the Union address, he directed NASA to build a permanently crewed international space station within a decade. This project, initially called Space Station Freedom, was envisioned as a grand, modular structure assembled in orbit by the Space Shuttle. It evolved through several design concepts, including an early “Power Tower” configuration—a long central keel with modules clustered at one end and solar arrays at the other. By 1987, the project had its name, and a year later, the U.S. signed formal agreements with partners in Europe, Japan, and Canada.

Despite this progress, Space Station Freedom was in trouble. The project was plagued by technical complexity, constant redesigns, and soaring costs. By the early 1990s, it faced intense political opposition in the U.S. Congress and came within a single vote of being canceled.

Simultaneously, on the other side of the world, a parallel story was unfolding. The Soviet Union had been developing its own successor to Mir, a next-generation station called Mir-2. The design was centered on a large, self-sufficient core module, the DOS-8 base block, which would serve as the station’s primary habitat and control center. But with the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the newly formed Russian Federation inherited this ambitious project along with a shattered economy. Russia possessed the world’s most extensive experience in operating space stations but lacked the funds to build a new one.

This created a unique historical moment. The United States had a budget for a space station but was struggling to execute its complex design. Russia had a proven, robust design and deep operational knowledge but no money. The situation was one of mutual desperation. In 1993, in a move that would have been unthinkable just a few years earlier, the heads of the Russian space program sent a letter to their American counterparts proposing to merge the two competing projects.

The proposal was a lifeline for both programs. The Clinton administration, seeing an opportunity to save the American station from cancellation while also achieving a significant foreign policy goal—peacefully engaging Russia’s elite aerospace industry—agreed. The Space Station Freedom program was officially canceled and immediately reborn as the International Space Station. In September 1993, U.S. Vice President Al Gore and Russian Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin announced the new joint venture. The existing partnerships with the European Space Agency (ESA), the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) were integrated into this new, larger coalition.

The resulting design was a physical manifestation of this political merger, blending two distinct engineering philosophies. The core of the Russian plan, the DOS-8 module, became the Zvezda Service Module, which would provide the station’s initial life support, propulsion, and crew quarters. This robust, monolithic habitat was designed to be launched on a Russian Proton rocket and operate autonomously. The American concept of a large, truss-based structure, assembled piece by piece by the Space Shuttle, formed the basis for the rest of the station. This created the fundamental division that exists to this day: the Russian Orbital Segment (ROS) and the U.S. Orbital Segment (USOS). This technical compromise, born of geopolitical necessity, gave the station valuable redundancies but also embedded significant operational complexities, from differing engineering standards to separate mission control centers.

Building Bridges on the Final Frontier

Before the partners could begin building a new station together, they had to learn how to work together. The political agreement on the ground needed to be translated into a functional partnership in orbit. To achieve this, the Shuttle-Mir Program was established as “Phase 1” of the International Space Station Program.

Running from 1995 to 1998, this program was a crucial dress rehearsal. It involved eleven Space Shuttle missions to the Russian Mir space station. Ten of these missions included a docking, allowing American astronauts and Russian cosmonauts to live and work together for extended periods. Seven U.S. astronauts completed long-duration stays on Mir, becoming fully integrated members of the cosmonaut crews.

The Shuttle-Mir program was invaluable. It moved beyond the symbolic “handshake in space” of the 1975 Apollo-Soyuz mission to forge a genuine working relationship. Engineers and mission controllers on both sides learned to navigate technical incompatibilities, language barriers, and different operational cultures. The program built the foundation of mutual trust and practical experience that was essential for undertaking the far more complex task of assembling the ISS.

Assembly in the Void: A Decade of Construction

The on-orbit assembly of the International Space Station was an unprecedented feat of engineering, a decade-long construction project conducted in the most unforgiving environment imaginable. It required more than 40 launches and hundreds of hours of spacewalks to piece together the massive structure.

The process began on November 20, 1998, when a Russian Proton rocket lifted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, carrying the first component: the Zarya module. Funded by the U.S. but built and launched by Russia, Zarya (Russian for “sunrise”) provided the station’s initial power, storage, and propulsion.

Two weeks later, the Space Shuttle Endeavour roared into orbit on mission STS-88. In its payload bay was Unity, the first American-built component. The shuttle crew used the robotic arm to capture Zarya and attach it to Unity, and then astronauts Jerry Ross and James Newman performed the first of many assembly spacewalks to connect power and data cables between the two modules.

For the next year and a half, this two-module core orbited the Earth empty. The station couldn’t support a permanent crew until the arrival of its primary living quarters and command post. That critical component, the Zvezda Service Module, was launched in July 2000. As the repurposed core of the canceled Mir-2 project, Zvezda provided the life support systems, sleeping quarters, galley, and flight control systems needed for habitation. Its arrival paved the way for the first crew. On November 2, 2000, Expedition 1 arrived, and the era of continuous human presence on the ISS began.

The next decade was a steady cadence of construction flights. The Space Shuttle’s unique capabilities were the indispensable enabler of this phase. Its massive payload bay was the only vehicle capable of carrying the station’s largest components, and its robotic arm was essential for maneuvering them into place. In February 2001, the U.S. laboratory module, Destiny, was added. This was followed by the station’s backbone, the Integrated Truss Structure, which was delivered in sections and assembled over many flights. Attached to this truss were the station’s massive solar arrays, which, when fully deployed, span an area the size of an American football field.

The international laboratory modules arrived later in the decade. ESA’s Columbus module was installed in February 2008, and JAXA’s multi-part Kibō (Japanese for “hope”) laboratory was added over several flights in 2008 and 2009.

This complete dependence on the Space Shuttle also represented the project’s greatest vulnerability. When the shuttle Columbia was lost in February 2003, the fleet was grounded for more than two years. ISS assembly came to an abrupt halt. With no way to deliver large components or rotate full crews, the station’s population was reduced to a two-person “caretaker” crew. Their primary job was simply to keep the station running, and the amount of science that could be performed was severely limited.

The shuttle’s return to flight allowed construction to resume, but the incident highlighted the risks of relying on a single system. The eventual retirement of the Space Shuttle fleet in 2011 marked the end of the primary assembly phase. It also fundamentally reshaped the station’s future. With the shuttle gone, the United States lost its domestic capability to launch astronauts into orbit. For nearly a decade, NASA would be completely reliant on the Russian Soyuz spacecraft for crew transportation. This logistical gap created a powerful incentive for NASA to foster a commercial alternative. The agency established the Commercial Crew and Cargo programs, providing funding and, most importantly, a guaranteed customer—the ISS—for private companies like SpaceX to develop their own spacecraft. The end of the shuttle program was a direct catalyst for the rise of the modern commercial space industry, a new chapter that the ISS itself made possible.

A Home Above the World: Life and Science on the ISS

With the primary construction phase complete, the International Space Station transitioned from a high-orbit construction site into a fully functional home and laboratory. For over two decades, it has been a continuous hub of human activity, a place where astronauts and cosmonauts from around the world live, work, and conduct research that is impossible to perform on Earth. Life aboard the station is a unique blend of meticulous routine, demanding work, and the extraordinary experience of living in a weightless world.

The First Inhabitants: Expedition 1

The lights on the International Space Station were turned on for good on November 2, 2000. On that day, the Soyuz TM-31 spacecraft docked, and its three-person crew floated aboard, becoming the station’s first long-duration residents. Expedition 1 was commanded by American astronaut William Shepherd, a former Navy SEAL, and included Russian cosmonauts Yuri Gidzenko, who piloted the Soyuz, and Sergei Krikalev, one of the most experienced spacefarers in history.

Their 136-day mission was not defined by groundbreaking science. Instead, their task was far more fundamental: to bring the station to life. They were the activation crew, responsible for installing and turning on the critical life support systems, communications gear, and computer controls. Their days were a relentless series of unpacking equipment, troubleshooting new systems, and establishing the operational rhythm that would be followed by every crew for the next two decades. Shepherd described the workload as “trying to pack 30 hours into an 18-hour work day.”

They faced and overcame the inevitable challenges of commissioning a new spacecraft. When the automated docking system on the first Progress resupply vehicle failed, Gidzenko had to take manual control from inside the station, using a teleoperated system to guide the cargo ship safely to its port. By successfully hosting three visiting Space Shuttle crews and two uncrewed Russian resupply ships, Expedition 1 proved that the station could function as a sustainable outpost. Their mission marked the beginning of an uninterrupted human presence in space that continues to this day.

The Rhythm of Orbital Life

Life on the ISS is governed by the clock, not the sun. As the station circles the globe every 90 minutes, its inhabitants experience 16 sunrises and 16 sunsets each day. To maintain a normal human circadian rhythm, the crew operates on a 24-hour schedule based on Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). Their workdays are meticulously planned by mission controllers on the ground, often broken down into five-minute increments.

A typical day begins with a wake-up call and a “daily planning conference” with mission control centers around the world. The bulk of the day is dedicated to a combination of scientific research and station maintenance. This can involve anything from running experiments in a laboratory module to performing a spacewalk to repair an external component.

A vital part of the daily routine is exercise. Astronauts must spend at least two hours every day working out on specialized equipment, including a treadmill, a stationary bicycle, and a resistance machine that uses vacuum cylinders to simulate weightlifting. This rigorous regimen is not optional; it’s a medical necessity to counteract the debilitating effects of microgravity on the human body, which include rapid loss of bone density and muscle mass.

Personal life is also adapted to the unique environment. With no showers, astronauts use wet towels and rinseless shampoo for hygiene. The space toilet uses a vacuum system to collect waste. Food is a mix of dehydrated, thermostabilized, and fresh items delivered by cargo ships. Mealtimes are important social occasions for the crew to gather and connect. In their limited free time, crew members read, watch movies, and communicate with their families on Earth via IP phones and video conferences. Many say their favorite pastime is simply gazing out of the Cupola, the station’s seven-windowed observatory, watching the world go by.

The station’s crew size has evolved over time. It began with three-person crews, a number dictated by the capacity of the Russian Soyuz, which served as the sole “lifeboat.” After the Columbia accident, the crew was temporarily reduced to a two-person caretaker staff. As the station’s capabilities grew, and a second Soyuz could be permanently docked, the crew expanded to six in 2009. This doubling of the crew was a major milestone, as it significantly increased the number of hours available for scientific research. The most recent expansion came in 2020 with the arrival of SpaceX’s four-seat Crew Dragon. This enabled the standard crew size to increase to seven, and during crew handover periods when one mission arrives before the previous one departs, the station’s population can temporarily swell to 13 or more.

A Global Operation

The management of the ISS is as international as its construction. The program is a partnership of five space agencies: NASA (United States), Roscosmos (Russia), ESA (Europe), JAXA (Japan), and CSA (Canada). Each partner is responsible for managing and controlling the hardware it provides.

Operationally, the station is managed from two primary locations. The Mission Control Center in Moscow (known as the TsUP) has overall command of the Russian Orbital Segment. This includes control of the station’s guidance, navigation, and propulsion systems. It is the Russian Zvezda module’s thrusters, and those of docked Progress cargo ships, that perform the periodic “reboosts” to raise the station’s orbit and counteract atmospheric drag.

The Mission Control Center at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston manages the U.S. Orbital Segment. This includes the operations of all American, European, Japanese, and Canadian modules and hardware. Houston’s flight controllers are responsible for managing the station’s electrical power system, which is generated by the large U.S. solar arrays, as well as life support, communications, and all scientific activities within the USOS.

In addition to these two main centers, a network of support centers around the world plays a vital role. The Columbus Control Centre in Germany manages operations for the European laboratory module. The Tsukuba Space Center in Japan oversees the Kibō module. Canadian experts support the operations of the station’s robotic systems. This globally distributed network of flight controllers works in constant coordination, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, to keep the station and its crew safe and productive.

The Floating Laboratory

The core purpose of the International Space Station is science. It is a unique laboratory that provides access to a sustained microgravity environment, a condition that fundamentally alters physical and biological phenomena and cannot be replicated for long periods on Earth. In 2005, a key policy decision cemented this role when the U.S. Congress designated the American segment of the station as a U.S. National Laboratory. This opened the station’s doors to a broad community of users beyond NASA, including other government agencies, academic institutions, and commercial companies.

This move was transformative. In the early years of assembly, science often took a backseat to construction and maintenance. The completion of the station and the expansion of the crew size created a new era of research productivity. The designation as a National Laboratory, managed by the non-profit Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (now the ISS National Lab), actively cultivated a diverse user base. It demonstrated that a viable commercial market for in-space research could exist, laying the groundwork for the future low-Earth orbit economy. Research on the station spans several major fields:

Human Physiology: A primary focus is understanding how the human body adapts to long-term spaceflight. The absence of gravity causes a cascade of physiological changes, including bone density loss similar to accelerated osteoporosis, muscle atrophy, and a shift of bodily fluids toward the head, which can affect vision and cardiovascular function. Studying these effects is not only essential for planning future crewed missions to the Moon and Mars but also provides a unique model for studying aging and diseases like osteoporosis on Earth.

Materials Science and Manufacturing: Microgravity allows for the creation of materials with properties unattainable on the ground. Without gravity causing sedimentation or convection, it’s possible to form purer crystals and more uniform alloys. Researchers have used the station to grow large, highly-ordered protein crystals, which can be analyzed to design more effective drugs for diseases ranging from cancer to muscular dystrophy. Experiments have also demonstrated the ability to manufacture superior optical fibers and stronger, lighter metal alloys. On the station’s exterior, the Materials International Space Station Experiment (MISSE) facility exposes new materials to the harsh environment of space, testing their durability for future spacecraft.

Earth and Space Science: Orbiting the Earth 16 times a day, the ISS is an exceptional platform for observing our planet. Astronaut photography and automated sensors monitor climate patterns, track natural disasters like hurricanes and wildfires in real time, and study atmospheric processes. Looking outward, the station hosts a suite of astronomical instruments. The most significant of these is the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS-02), a particle physics detector mounted on the station’s truss. For over a decade, AMS-02 has been collecting data on cosmic rays, searching for evidence of dark matter and antimatter to help answer fundamental questions about the composition and origin of the universe.

Technology Demonstration: The ISS serves as a critical testbed for the technologies needed for future deep-space exploration. Advanced life support and water recycling systems, which can recover up to 98% of all water brought to or generated on the station, are constantly being refined. The station was the first place where 3D printing was tested in space, demonstrating a capability that will be essential for manufacturing spare parts and tools on long missions far from Earth. It’s also a platform for testing new robotics, communications systems, and fire safety techniques in a relevant space environment.

The Orbital Lifeline

To sustain its crew and operations, the ISS depends on a constant lifeline of supplies from Earth. The evolution of the vehicles that provide this lifeline tells the story of the station’s changing operational landscape and its role in fostering a new space economy.

In the beginning, logistics were handled by two government-operated systems: the U.S. Space Shuttle for large cargo and crew rotation, and Russia’s uncrewed Progress for cargo and crewed Soyuz for transport. After the shuttle’s retirement in 2011, the station entered a period of complete reliance on Russian vehicles. This dependency created a strategic imperative for NASA to develop a domestic alternative.

Through its Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) and Commercial Crew Program (CCP), NASA acted as an anchor customer, providing seed funding and guaranteed contracts to private companies. This strategy was a resounding success. Today, a diverse fleet of vehicles services the station, representing a mix of government and commercial providers. This transition not only restored American launch capability but did so at a lower cost, proving the viability of the public-private partnership model that will define the future of activity in low-Earth orbit.

Sunset Orbit and the Next Dawn

After more than two decades of continuous operation, the International Space Station is entering the final chapter of its life. It remains a robust and highly capable laboratory, but it will not last forever. The international partnership has committed to operating the station through 2030, a decision that ensures a final decade of scientific return while also providing the time needed to prepare for a seamless transition to the next generation of orbital platforms. The station’s end will be as carefully planned as its beginning, culminating in a controlled return to Earth and the passing of the torch to a new commercial era.

An Engineering Marvel Shows Its Age

The ISS was designed for a 15-year lifespan. Through careful maintenance, upgrades, and life-extension analyses, its operational life has been nearly doubled. the station is a physical structure subject to the relentless stresses of the space environment. Its primary structure—the modules, trusses, and radiators—is aging.

Every 90 minutes, the station passes from direct sunlight into Earth’s shadow, experiencing temperature swings of hundreds of degrees. This constant thermal cycling causes the structure to expand and contract, inducing microscopic stress and fatigue over thousands of orbits. The station is also subject to dynamic loads from the regular docking and undocking of visiting spacecraft. And it is constantly being pelted by micrometeoroids and tiny particles of orbital debris. While critical systems like computers, pumps, and life support can be repaired or replaced by the crew, the station’s fundamental metal framework cannot be easily refurbished. These cumulative effects set a practical limit on how long the station can be safely operated.

The Final Plunge

The official end-of-life plan for the ISS is a controlled deorbit. When the time comes, the station will be deliberately and precisely guided out of orbit to break up over a remote, uninhabited area of the ocean. This is a standard practice for large spacecraft, and it is the only responsible way to retire a structure of this magnitude.

An uncontrolled reentry is not an option. The ISS is the size of a football field and has a mass of nearly one million pounds. If it were simply abandoned, atmospheric drag would eventually pull it down, but its reentry path would be unpredictable. Large, dense components would survive the fiery descent and could pose a significant hazard to people and property on the ground. Other options, such as boosting the station to a higher “graveyard” orbit or disassembling it piece by piece, were studied and rejected. Both were deemed logistically prohibitive and astronomically expensive.

The deorbit process will be a gradual, carefully managed sequence. It will begin about a year and a half before the final entry, with the launch and docking of a purpose-built U.S. Deorbit Vehicle (USDV). NASA has awarded a contract to SpaceX to develop this spacecraft, which will be a powerful, heavily modified version of its Dragon vehicle, carrying significantly more propellant.

Once the USDV is in place and checked out, the final ISS crew will depart. Mission controllers will then allow the station’s orbit to begin a slow, natural decay, guided by periodic thruster firings from the USDV and Russian Progress vehicles. As the station descends into the upper atmosphere, the deorbit vehicle will execute a final, powerful series of burns. This last push will ensure the station enters the atmosphere at a precise angle and location.

The target for the debris field is the most remote place on Earth: the South Pacific Oceanic Uninhabited Area, also known as Point Nemo. As the station hits the dense atmosphere, its massive solar arrays and radiators will be the first components to break off and vaporize. The modules will then separate from the central truss, and most of the structure will burn up. The largest and densest pieces are expected to survive and splash down harmlessly in this remote stretch of ocean.

Passing the Torch to the Private Sector

The plan to retire the ISS is not an end to human activity in low-Earth orbit; it’s a transition. NASA’s strategy is to move from being an owner and operator of a space station to being one of many customers of commercially owned and operated destinations. This represents a fundamental shift in the agency’s operational philosophy, one that was proven successful by the ISS commercial cargo and crew programs. By outsourcing LEO infrastructure, NASA can free up its budget and personnel to focus on its core mission of deep-space exploration through the Artemis program, while still ensuring its research needs in orbit are met.

To facilitate this transition and ensure there is no gap in U.S. presence in LEO, NASA established the Commercial LEO Destinations (CLD) program. This initiative provides funding and technical expertise to several private companies to accelerate the development of their own space stations.

Several companies are now in a race to become the first commercial successor to the ISS. Axiom Space is developing a series of modules that will initially attach to the ISS. This will allow the company to begin operations while the ISS is still flying. Sometime before 2030, the Axiom segment will detach and become its own free-flying commercial station. Other ventures include Starlab, a partnership between Voyager Space and Airbus, and Haven-1, a station being developed by the company Vast. These new platforms will carry forward the legacy of the ISS, hosting astronauts, running experiments, and perhaps even welcoming tourists.

The Enduring Legacy of the International Space Station

The legacy of the International Space Station is vast and multifaceted. It stands as a monumental achievement in human history, one whose impact will be felt for generations.

Its most visible legacy is as a symbol of international cooperation. It is the most significant and complex peaceful collaboration ever undertaken by nations. Forged in the aftermath of the Cold War, it turned former adversaries into partners, demonstrating that countries can work together to achieve ambitious goals for the common good, even when political relationships on Earth are strained.

As a technological achievement, it is unparalleled. It is the largest and most complex machine ever built in space, a testament to human engineering and the ability to perform large-scale construction in orbit. The lessons learned from its assembly and decades of maintenance are indispensable for any future large space structures.

As a scientific laboratory, its contributions are immense. It has hosted thousands of experiments from researchers in over 100 countries. This work has advanced our understanding of the human body, led to new treatments for diseases, produced novel materials, provided a unique perspective on our planet’s climate, and peered into the fundamental nature of the universe.

As an economic catalyst, it transformed the space industry. By serving as a reliable destination and an anchor customer, the ISS created the business case for the commercial cargo and crew programs. It nurtured a new private spaceflight industry, fundamentally changing the economics of access to low-Earth orbit and paving the way for a sustainable space economy.

And finally, as a stepping stone for exploration, its legacy is foundational. The decades of experience gained in operating a long-duration habitat in space—from perfecting life support systems and spacewalking techniques to understanding how to keep humans healthy and productive on multi-month missions—provide the essential knowledge base for humanity’s next great leaps: a return to the Moon and the first crewed missions to Mars. The ISS taught us not just how to build in space, but how to live there.

Summary

The International Space Station represents a monumental chapter in the history of human exploration. Born from the competitive embers of the Cold War, it transformed into an unprecedented symbol of global cooperation, uniting 15 nations in the largest and most complex engineering project ever attempted. Its assembly in orbit was a decade-long testament to human ingenuity, a task made possible by the unique capabilities of the Space Shuttle and the steadfast collaboration of its international partners.

For over two decades, the ISS has served as humanity’s continuous home in low-Earth orbit. It has been a world-class laboratory, yielding discoveries in human health, materials science, and Earth observation that have tangible benefits on the ground. The research conducted aboard the station has been essential in preparing for future long-duration missions to the Moon and Mars, teaching us how to mitigate the harsh effects of the space environment on the human body.

Beyond its scientific and technological achievements, the station’s most enduring legacy may be its role as an economic catalyst. By providing a reliable destination, the ISS enabled the rise of a robust commercial spaceflight industry, fundamentally changing the paradigm of access to space. As it approaches its planned retirement in 2030, the station is set to complete this final mission, passing the torch to a new generation of commercially owned and operated space stations. Its carefully controlled deorbit will mark the end of an era, but its legacy—as a beacon of peaceful collaboration, a platform for discovery, and the cradle of a new space economy—will continue to shape the future of humanity’s journey into the cosmos.