page_title: International Space Station
section_title: Fleet operations
hierarchical_section_title: International Space Station / Operations / Fleet operations
caption_attribution_description: English: The International Space Station's Canadarm2 grapples the unpiloted Japanese "Kounotori" H2 Transfer Vehicle-4 (HTV-4) as it approaches the station, and will attach it to the Earth-facing port of the station's Harmony node. The HTV-4 is delivering 3.6 tons of science experiments, equipment and supplies to the orbiting complex. Earth's horizon and the blackness of space provide the backdrop for the scene.
context_page_description: The International Space Station is a modular space station in low Earth orbit. It is a multinational collaborative project between five participating space agencies: NASA, Roscosmos, JAXA, ESA, and CSA. The ownership and use of the space station is established by intergovernmental treaties and agreements. The ISS program evolved from the Space Station Freedom, an American proposal in the 1980s to construct a permanently crewed Earth-orbiting station.
  The ISS serves as a microgravity and space environment research laboratory in which scientific experiments are conducted in astrobiology, astronomy, meteorology, physics, and other fields. The station is suited for testing the spacecraft systems and equipment required for possible future long-duration missions to the Moon and Mars. It is the largest artificial object in space and the largest satellite in low Earth orbit, regularly visible to the naked eye from Earth's surface. It maintains an orbit with an average altitude of 400 kilometres by means of reboost manoeuvres using the engines of the Zvezda Service Module or visiting spacecraft. The ISS circles the Earth in roughly 93 minutes, completing 15.5 orbits per day.
context_section_description: A wide variety of crewed and uncrewed spacecraft have supported the station's activities. Thirty-seven Space Shuttle ISS flights were conducted before retirement. 75 Progress resupply spacecraft (including the modified M-MIM2 and M-SO1 module transports), 59 crewed Soyuz spacecraft, five European ATV, nine Japanese HTV 'Kounotori', 20 SpaceX Dragon, and 13 Northrop Grumman Cygnus have flown to the ISS.
caption: Japan's Kounotori 4 berthing
exif: {"Image Make": "Apple", "Image Model": "iPad", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "300", "Image YResolution": "300", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop CS6 (Windows)", "Image DateTime": "2013:08:09 13:00:44", "Image ExifOffset": "200", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "674", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "5135", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/2000", "EXIF FNumber": "12/5", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "80", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2013:08:09 11:25:11", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2013:08:09 11:25:11", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "1370723/125000", "EXIF ApertureValue": "2526069/1000000", "EXIF BrightnessValue": "4867/497", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF Flash": "No flash function", "EXIF FocalLength": "107/25", "EXIF SubjectArea": "[1295, 967, 699, 696]", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "2592", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "1936", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "35", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal"}