page_title: International Space Station programme
section_title: Visiting spacecraft
hierarchical_section_title: International Space Station programme / Programme operations / Visiting spacecraft
caption_attribution_description: ISS015-E-21732 (10 Aug. 2007) --- This view of the Space Shuttle Endeavour, clearly shows its payload bay and upper surfaces. The image was photographed by one of the Expedition 15 crewmembers aboard the International Space Station shortly before the two vehicles docked in Earth orbit. Endeavour is contributing toward space station construction by delivering a third starboard truss segment, S5, and supplies inside the SPACEHAB module (in the center of the bay) and the external stowage platform 3.
context_page_description: The International Space Station programme is tied together by a complex set of legal, political and financial agreements between the sixteen nations involved in the project, governing ownership of the various components, rights to crewing and utilization, and responsibilities for crew rotation and resupply of the International Space Station. It was conceived in 1984 by President Ronald Reagan, during the Space Station Freedom project as it was originally called. These agreements tie together the five space agencies and their respective International Space Station programmes and govern how they interact with each other on a daily basis to maintain station operations, from traffic control of spacecraft to and from the station, to utilization of space and crew time. In March 2010, the International Space Station Program Managers from each of the five partner agencies were presented with Aviation Week's Laureate Award in the Space category, and the ISS programme was awarded the 2009 Collier Trophy.
context_section_description: Spacecraft from four different space agencies visit the ISS, serving a variety of purposes. The Automated Transfer Vehicle from the European Space Agency, the Russian Roskosmos Progress spacecraft and the H-II Transfer Vehicle from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency have provided resupply services to the station. In addition, Russia supplies a Soyuz spacecraft used for crew rotation and emergency evacuation, which is replaced every six months. Finally, the US serviced the ISS through its Space Shuttle program, providing resupply missions, assembly and logistics flights, and crew rotation until the program was retired in 2011.
  SpaceX was the first private company to resupply the ISS, and on May 31, 2020 it became the first company to fly humans to the ISS.
  The availability of docking ports on the station and traffic from four different agencies and launch sites must be coordinated. Spacecraft launches can see delays while waiting for traffic to clear. A particular tight traffic jam occurred during the latch of ESA's Jules Verne Automated Transfer Vehicle in spring 2008. The cargo ship launched 2 days prior to STS-123, and had to wait in a holding orbit performing system tests while waiting for the Shuttle orbiter to clear the station.
  As of 13 April 2016, there had been 46 Soyuz, 63 Progress, 5 ATV, 5 HTV, 5 Orbital Cygnus, 7 SpaceX Dragon and 37 Space Shuttle flights to the station. Expeditions require, on average, 2,722 kg of supplies; Soyuz crew rotation flights and Progress resupply flights visit the station on average two and three times respectively each year.
caption: The Space Shuttle Endeavour approaching the ISS during STS-118
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