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International Space Station makes 100,000th circuit around Earth

The International Space Station started functioning with the launch of the Russian functional freight module Zarya, which took place on November 20, 1998

MOSCOW, May 16. /TASS/. The International Space Station (ISS) made its 100,000th circuit around the Earth on Monday morning, Russia’s Mission Control Head Maxim Matyushin told TASS.

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"The ISS is proving by its so long existence that humankind has the necessary technologies for constant presence in orbit and that we have potential for further exploring the outer space," said Matyushin, who is also deputy general director of TsNIIMASh (the Central Research Institute of Machine-Building), the lead research institute of Russia’s State Space Corporation Roscosmos.

According to Russia’s Mission Control, the jubilee circuit of the world’s sole orbiter around the Earth lasted from 7:35 to 9:10 Moscow time (4:35 - 6:10 GMT).

The International Space Station started functioning with the launch of the Russian functional freight module Zarya, which took place on November 20, 1998.

The world’s sole orbiter currently consists of 15 purposeful modules and is the largest engineering structure assembled by humans in the Earth’s orbit. The ISS weighs over 400 tons and by its size it can fully cover a football field in its projection. The ISS’ average flight height is about 400 km and the station makes a full circuit around the Earth within an hour and a half.

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