NASA Video taken from Space Shuttle Atlantis 17th September 2006. The International Space Station (ISS) is a manned research space facility being assembled in orbit around the Earth at an altitude of approximately 360 km (220 miles). It orbits Earth in a period of about 92 minutes. Due to the ISS, there is a permanent human presence in space - since the first permanent crew entered the ISS on November 2, 2000 there have always been at least two people on board ISS. It is serviced primarily by the Soyuz Progress spacecraft units and the Space Shuttle. The International Space Station is currently still under construction with a projected completion date of 2010. Music: Blue Danube Waltz.