How the International Space Station has changed over time

How the International Space Station has changed over time

See how the world's largest space lab has evolved over time

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Published: September 21, 2017 at 11:00 am

On 16 March, Channel 4 will host a live broadcast from the International Space Station (ISS) as part of their Live from Space season.Viewers will be able to interact with the astronauts as they travel through one 90 minute orbit of the Earth.

The first component of the station was launched into space on 20 November 1998, over 15 years ago.Since then, the space lab has undergone numerous facelifts and grown considerably to become the largest manmade body in orbit.

Take a look at how the International Space Station has evolved over time in the gallery below.

And if you would like to spot the ISS yourself, read our guide on how to see the International Space Station in the night sky.

December 1998: the US built Unity connecting module and Russia's Zarya module a few month's after Zayra was launched from Kazakhstan (Credit: NASA)
June 1999: this image was taken by a crew member onboard the Space Shuttle Discovery (Credit: NASA)
September 2000: the ISS has gained the Progress and Zvezda service modules (Credit: NASA)
August 2001: this close up view of the ISS clearly shows the separate components that make up the space lab (Credit: NASA)
June 2002: this image was captured by astronauts onboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour shortly after undocking (Credit: NASA)
June 2007: the space lab's second pair of solar wings were installed in 2006 (Credit: NASA)
August 2007: this expanded configuration, very different to how the ISS appeared just two years earlier, remains to this day (Credit: NASA)
November 2008: a third set of solar wings have been installed on the space station (Credit: NASA)
February 2010: the ISS with all four sets of solar wings (Credit: NASA)
November 2012: the ISS as it appears today, but there are still plans for yet more additions to the space lab before it is eventually disbanded (Credit:NASA/ESA)
August 2001: this close up view of the ISS clearly shows the separate components that make up the space lab (Credit: NASA)

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