International Space Station ISS

Hu­man­i­ty's largest out­post in space

The International Space Station ISS is the largest technology project of all time – humanity's outpost in space. At the same time, it is a orbiting laboratory that provides unprecedented possibilities for scientific and industrial research.

On 20 November 1998, a Russian Proton rocket took off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome and carried the first component of the International Space Station, the Zarya module (Zarya is Russian for sunrise), into Earth orbit. Sixteen days later, on 6 December 1998, the crew of the space shuttle Endeavour joined the Russian Zarya module together with the US Unity connecting node. This docking manoeuvre represented much more than just an impressive technical achievement. It was a visible event marking the start of the biggest collaborative project ever to take place among people in space. Lasting international cooperation between Russia, the US, Europe, Canada and Japan was thus achieved for the first time in space.

The International Space Station (ISS) is a 'flying laboratory' in Earth orbit with exceptional conditions for both fundamental science and applied research. In the microgravity on board the space station 'falling' around the Earth, science and society gain unique insights from astrophysics and materials research to psychology and medicine. Experiments on the ISS also pave the way for future long-term crewed missions to explore the Moon or Mars.

The ISS is a driver of innovation for new industries and technologies such as laser-based communications, robotics and sensor systems. On the ISS, the major space-faring nations are jointly developing solutions that address the global challenges facing society – health, the environment and climate change as well as digitalisation, Industry 4.0, energy and the mobility of tomorrow.

Researchers from Germany have been involved since the scientific utilisation of the space station commenced in 2001. The very first experiment was performed using the German-Russian PKE apparatus to investigate the growth of plasma crystals in microgravity. With over 100 scientific publications, it is one of the most successful research projects on the ISS. To date, well over 3000 experiments from 108 countries have been carried out on the ISS. Approximately 250 people from 19 countries around the world have flown to the ISS. Around 500 experiments originate from ESA utilisation programmes. German scientists have been involved in roughly 200 of these European experiments.

For Germany as an exporting nation, high-tech country and scientific centre, research on the ISS is an investment in the future and at the same time an inspiration for the next generation. Crewed missions with German participation on behalf of the European Space Agency (ESA) strengthen Germany as a centre of science and innovation and make the Federal Republic one of the most intensive users and beneficiaries of the scientific facilities on board the ISS, so that 'Science Fiction' becomes 'Science Facts'.

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Observing Earth from the ISS
Multi-User System for Earth Sensing (MUSES), the first commercial Earth-sensing platform on the ISS, will further increase the Space Station's research capabilities. DLR is developing and supplying a visible/near-infrared imaging spectrometer, which, among many other tasks, will provide invaluable information about the atmosphere over the oceans and their bio-geophysical composition.
Image: 1/4, Credit:

NASA

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AMS is hunting for particles
Installed outside the ISS, the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS) particle detector is searching for dark matter. The project, which is funded by the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR), detects 16 billion cosmic ray particles every year.
Image: 2/4, Credit:

NASA

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ISS with the blackness of space and Earth's horizon, November 2007
Backdropped by the blackness of space and Earth's horizon, the International Space Station (ISS) is seen from Space Shuttle Discovery as the two spacecraft begin their relative separation. The picture was taken during the STS-120 mission on 5 November 2007.
Image: 4/4, Credit:

NASA

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Background article

The In­ter­na­tion­al Space Sta­tion ISS – Re­search in space ben­e­fit­ing hu­man­i­ty

The In­ter­na­tion­al Space Sta­tion ISS is the largest tech­nol­o­gy project of all time: an out­post of hu­man­i­ty in space. At the same time, it is a fly­ing lab­o­ra­to­ry with out­stand­ing pos­si­bil­i­ties for sci­en­tif­ic and in­dus­tri­al re­search.

Da­ta and mod­ules

International Space Station ISS status on completion.

The Eu­ro­pean Colum­bus Lab­o­ra­to­ry

Colum­bus, Eu­rope's con­tri­bu­tion to the In­ter­na­tion­al Space Sta­tion ISS, is a mul­ti-pur­pose lab­o­ra­to­ry for mul­ti-dis­ci­plinary re­search un­der mi­cro­grav­i­ty con­di­tions. It was per­ma­nent­ly at­tached to the ISS and put in­to op­er­a­tion on 11 Febru­ary 2008. It is 6.9 me­tres long with a di­am­e­ter of 4.5 me­tres.

Ger­man re­search ob­jec­tives and util­i­sa­tion of Colum­bus

In con­trast to the ear­ly util­i­sa­tion phase of the In­ter­na­tion­al Space Sta­tion ISS, the scope of re­search is set to be ex­pand­ed sig­nif­i­cant­ly over the com­ing years. In ad­di­tion to ex­per­i­ments in the field of grav­i­ta­tion­al bi­ol­o­gy, sci­en­tists from Ger­many are in­creas­ing­ly work­ing on projects re­lat­ing to ra­di­a­tion and as­tro­bi­ol­o­gy.

The Colum­bus Con­trol Cen­tre – Eu­rope's link to the ISS

The Colum­bus Con­trol Cen­tre (Col-CC) is part of the Ger­man Space Op­er­a­tions Cen­ter (GSOC) at the Ger­man Aerospace Cen­ter (DLR) site in Oberp­faf­fen­hofen.

The Colum­bus pro­gramme

In 1985, the Rome ESA Min­is­te­ri­al Coun­cil ap­proved Eu­ro­pean par­tic­i­pa­tion in the In­ter­na­tion­al Space Sta­tion ISS. At the next Min­is­te­ri­al Coun­cil in The Hague in 1987, the min­is­ters con­firmed the Colum­bus pro­gramme and agreed on a three-year prepa­ra­tion phase.

The Ger­man Space Op­er­a­tions Cen­ter

The Ger­man Space Op­er­a­tions Cen­ter (GSOC), op­er­at­ed by the Ger­man Aerospace Cen­ter (DLR) at Oberp­faf­fen­hofen near Mu­nich, has an im­pres­sive track record with many years of in­valu­able ex­pe­ri­ence.

From the Cold War to in­ter­na­tion­al co­op­er­a­tion – the sto­ry of the ISS

By the ear­ly 1980s, Eu­rope had se­cured it­self ac­cess to space. The Ar­i­ane launch rock­et was prov­ing a huge suc­cess and the Space­lab lab­o­ra­to­ry, de­vel­oped and built in Ger­many, was ready to de­ploy on the US Space Shut­tle.

Eu­rope sets a course for the ISS

Eu­rope will re­ceive its own ac­cess to the In­ter­na­tion­al Space Sta­tion ISS by means of the Au­to­mat­ed Trans­fer Ve­hi­cle (ATV) space trans­porter. As the most com­plex space­craft ev­er to be built in west­ern Eu­rope, the ATV rep­re­sents a sig­nif­i­cant mile­stone for Eu­ro­pean space.

Eu­rope's most com­plex space­craft

The ATV space trans­porter is a joint project be­tween in­dus­try and re­search in Eu­rope. It is the most com­plex space­craft that has ev­er been built in Eu­rope. Its de­gree of au­toma­tion is sig­nif­i­cant­ly high­er than that of the Rus­sian Soyuz or Progress crafts.

ATV - On the way to the launch pad

As ear­ly as 1987, the Eu­ro­pean Space Agen­cy (ESA) was car­ry­ing out re­search in­to the fea­si­bil­i­ty of an ATV-like ve­hi­cle. Once the ESA Coun­cil of Min­is­ters in Grana­da in 1992 had de­cid­ed to aban­don the pro­gramme for HER­MES, the manned Eu­ro­pean space shut­tle, there was a sig­nif­i­cant re­think of the Eu­ro­pean con­tri­bu­tion to the In­ter­na­tion­al Space Sta­tion ISS.

Downloads

Brochure: History of German Spaceflight (2010)

9.0 MB | PDF

Brochure: Germany on the ISS (2007)

8.1 MB | PDF

Poster of the International Space Station

895.5 KB | PDF

Participating DLR institutes and facilities

Institute of Aerospace Medicine

Within the entire German Aerospace Center (DLR), the Institute of Aerospace Medicine is the only research institute that focuses on life science issues related to transport and aerospace.

Institute of Materials Physics in Space

The Institute for Materials Physics in Space investigates the properties of melts and their solidification on all length scales using theoretical and experimental methods.

Institute of Optical Sensor Systems

The Institute of Optical Sensor Systems investigates and develops active and passive optical sensor systems for satellites, flying platforms and robotic systems.

Institute of Robotics and Mechatronics

The Institute of Robotics and Mechatronics develops a wide array of robots to enable humans to interact more safely and efficiently with their surrounding environments.

Remote Sensing Technology Institute (IMF)

The DLR Remote Sensing Technology Institute is located at the sites in Oberpfaffenhofen near Munich, Berlin-Adlershof and Neustrelitz as well as an office in Bremen.

Space Operations and Astronaut Training

DLR Space Operations is the central institution for spaceflight operations in Germany. This responsibility includes satellite missions for Earth observation, science and communication missions as well as the exploration of the Solar System and human spaceflight missions.

Links

Contact

Elke Heinemann

Digital Communications
German Aerospace Center (DLR)
Corporate Communications
Linder Höhe, 51147 Cologne
Tel: +49 2203 601-1852

Volker Schmid

ISS Specialist Group Leader, Head of the Cosmic Kiss Mission
German Aerospace Center (DLR)
German Space Agency at DLR
Science and Exploration
Königswinterer Straße 522-524, 53227 Bonn