25 Years of Space Station Technology Driving Exploration 

NASA and its partners have been supporting humans living and working continuously in space since November 2000. After 25 years of habitation, the International Space Station continues to be a testing ground for the technology that powers NASA’s Artemis campaign, future lunar missions, and human exploration of Mars.

Take a look at the key technological advances made possible by research aboard the orbiting laboratory.

Robots have played a vital role in the success of the space station. Starting with the Canadian-built Canadarm2, which assembled large parts of the orbiting laboratory and continues to support ongoing operations, particularly during spacewalks, the station’s robotics technology has evolved to include free-flying assistants and humanoid robots that have expanded the crew’s capabilities and opened new avenues of exploration.

The station’s first robotic assistants arrived in 2003. SPHERES robots — short for Synchronized Position Hold, Engage, Reorient, Experimental Satellite — served on the station for more than a decade, supporting environmental monitoring, data collection and transfer, and material testing in microgravity.

NASA’s subsequent free-flying robotic system, Astrobee, built on lessons learned from SPHERES. Known affectionately as Honey, Queen and Bumble, the three Astrobees work autonomously or via remote control by astronauts, flight controllers or ground researchers. They are designed to perform tasks such as inventory, documenting experiments conducted by astronauts or moving cargo around the station, and they can be equipped and programmed to conduct experiments.

NASA and its partners have also tested dexterous humanoid robots aboard the space station. Robonaut 1 and its more advanced successor, Robonaut 2, were designed to use the same tools as humans, so they could work safely with a crew capable of supporting routine tasks and high-risk activities.

Advanced robotic technologies will play an important role in NASA’s mission to return to the Moon and continue to Mars and beyond. Robots like Astrobee and Robonaut 2 have the ability to become guardians of future spacecraft, carry out precursor missions to new destinations, and contribute to crew safety by tackling dangerous tasks.

Living and working in space for more than two decades requires technology that makes the most of limited resources. The space station’s life support systems recycle air and water to keep astronauts healthy and reduce the need for resupply from Earth.

The station’s Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS) removes carbon dioxide from the air, provides oxygen for respiration and recycles wastewater, transforming yesterday’s coffee into tomorrow’s coffee. It is built around three key elements: the water recovery system, the air revitalization system and the oxygen generation system. The water processor collects wastewater from crew member urine, cabin humidity, and hydration systems inside spacesuits for spacewalks, converting it into clean, drinkable water.

The air revitalization system filters carbon dioxide and trace contaminants from the cabin atmosphere, ensuring the air remains safe to breathe. The oxygen generation system uses electrolysis to split water into hydrogen and oxygen, providing a constant supply of breathable air. Today, these systems make it possible to recover approximately 98% of the water brought to the station, an essential step for carrying out long-term missions where replenishment will not be possible.

Lessons learned aboard the space station will help keep Artemis crews healthy on the Moon and shape the closed-loop systems needed for future expeditions to Mars.

Additive manufacturing, also known as 3D printing, is regularly used on Earth to quickly produce a variety of devices. Adapting this process to space could allow crew members to create tools and parts for maintenance and repair as needed and save valuable cargo space.

Research carried out aboard the orbiting laboratory helps develop this capability.

The space station’s first 3D printer was installed in November 2014. This device produced more than a dozen tools and plastic parts, demonstrating that the process could work in low Earth orbit. Later devices tested different printer designs and features, including producing parts from recycled materials and simulated lunar regolith. In August 2024, an ESA-supplied device produced the first 3D printed metal product.

The space station has also hosted studies of a form of 3D printing called biological printing or bioprinting. This process uses living cells, proteins and nutrients as raw materials to potentially produce human tissues for the treatment of injuries and diseases. So far, a knee meniscus and living human heart tissue have been printed on board.

The ability to manufacture things in space is particularly important for planning future missions to the Moon and Mars, because additional supplies cannot be quickly sent from Earth and cargo capacity is limited.

As the space station orbits Earth, its four pairs of solar panels absorb energy from the sun to provide electrical power for the many scientific research and investigations conducted each day, as well as the ongoing operations of the orbiting laboratory.

In addition to harnessing the Sun’s energy for its operations, the space station provided a platform for innovative solar energy research. At least two dozen investigations have tested advanced solar cell technology, evaluating cell performance in orbit and monitoring degradation caused by exposure to the extreme environment of space. This research demonstrated technologies that could enable lighter, cheaper and more efficient solar power that could improve the design of future spacecraft and support sustainable energy production on Earth.

One investigation – the deployment of solar panels – has already led to improvements aboard the space station. The successful testing of a new type of solar panel that opens like a party favor and is more compact than current rigid panel designs has informed the development of the ISS Deployable Solar Panels (iROSA). The six iROSAs were installed during a series of spacewalks between 2021 and 2023 and helped increase the power of the space station by 20 to 30%.

For 25 years, the orbital outpost has served as a global learning platform, advancing STEM education and connecting people on Earth to life in space. Each student-designed experiment, in-flight downlink, and payload helps students see science in action and share humanity’s quest for discovery.

The first and oldest educational program on the space station is ISS Ham Radio, known as Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS), where students can ask questions directly to crew members aboard the space station. Since 2000, ARISS has connected more than 100 astronauts with more than a million students in 49 U.S. states, 63 countries and on every continent.

Through Learn with NASA, students and teachers can explore hands-on activities and astronaut-led experiments that demonstrate how physics, biology, and chemistry take place in microgravity.

Students around the world also participate in research inspired by the space station. Programs like Genes in Space and Cubes in Space allow learners to design experiments for orbit, while coding and robotics competitions such as the Kibo Robot Programming Challenge allow students to program Astrobee flying robots aboard the orbiting laboratory.

As NASA prepares for Artemis missions to the Moon, the space station continues to spark curiosity and inspire the next generation of explorers.