Info page - ISS

The International Space Stations are large space docks in orbit around Earth. The first one ever to be launched were the ISS-I, launched 20 November 1998. Its original mission was extended, when NASA was granted more funding in 2049. ISS-I was then reconfigured in 2090 to be able to speed up construction of the following space stations.

In 2102, the first space dock was constructed - the ISS-III. This breakthrough made ship assembly less costly and more effective than assembling them in the factories on Earth. The boosters earlier used to launch the ships to space were often as expensive to build as one third the ship it propelled.

The second breakthrough was in 2181, when the ISS-IV was constructed. It helped reducing time and resources when assembling fleets. It was larger than ISS-III, and could assemble Class 1 Resource Ships (max. 5 km long). Later in 2189, ISS-IV helped upgrading the ISS-II to be able to assemble Frigate class ships. ISS-I was still in use, but only for research and education purposes, as it was too small to be able to upgrade to a space dock.

Further speeding up assembly, ISS-V was launched in 2192. It was the same structure as ISS-IV, able to assemble Class 1 Resource Ships.