The International Space Station (ISS) is a permanently crewed on-orbit laboratory that enables scientific research supporting innovation on Earth and future deep space exploration. From design to launch, 15 countries collaborated to assemble the world’s only permanently crewed orbital facility, which can support up to seven astronauts and 300 to 400 experiments per crew increment, across an array of disciplines. The ISS is the cornerstone of human activity in low Earth orbit, a cooperative global effort to expand our knowledge and improve life on Earth while testing technology that will build a LEO economy and extend our reach to the moon, Mars and beyond.
Boeing officially turned over the U.S. on-orbit segment of the ISS to NASA in 2010 and continues to provide key engineering support services and continual capability enhancements, as well as processing for laboratory experiment racks. Due to its modular systems and the limited degradation of the space environment, technical assessments have shown the station could safely operate beyond 2030 if NASA and its international partners choose to do so.
