Liftoff Videos

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35 videos

  1. How the ISS Was Assembled: Modules, Gyros, Canadarm2 and Cooling

    Published: 6 Dec 2025

    This documentary-style explainer covers the early assembly of the International Space Station, from Zarya and Unity in 1998 through the 14 shuttle missions up to 2003.

  2. Thomas Pesquet’s Mission Alpha: Six Months Aboard the ISS

    Mission: 2021Published: 6 Sep 2025

    A documentary following ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet on his second trip to the International Space Station, Mission Alpha, which launched on April 23rd, 2021 aboard a Falcon 9 and Crew Dragon…

    View mission: Crew-2 (2021)
    Launch site
    Cape Canaveral, Florida
    Outcome
    Success

  3. ISS History: Assembly, Crises and the Plan to Deorbit by 2030

    Published: 12 Jul 2025

    A long-form history of the International Space Station, from early station proposals and Space Station Freedom through the Shuttle-era assembly, Expeditions, the Columbia pause, commercial cargo and…

    Outcome
    In progress

  4. How the ISS Will Be Destroyed at Point Nemo in 2030

    Published: 26 Mar 2025

    The B1M explains how the International Space Station was built from Zarya in 1998 onward and why it is planned to be brought down in 2030 by a specially modified SpaceX Dragon, ending in the ocean…

    View mission: International Space Station deorbit

  5. Inside the ISS: How the Station Is Built, Powered and Lived In

    Published: 17 Feb 2025

    A documentary tour of the International Space Station, described as covering 9,700 m² and about 400 tons.

  6. Why the ISS Will Be Deorbited at Point Nemo and What Comes Next

    Mission: 1998Published: 22 Jul 2024

    The video explains why the International Space Station is due to be deorbited by SpaceX around 2030 and sent into the sea at Point Nemo.

    View mission: International Space Station (1998)
    Outcome
    In progress

  7. ISS Story: From Zarya’s 1998 Launch to Planned De-Orbit

    Mission: 1998Published: 7 May 2024

    A DW documentary on the International Space Station, whose first module, Zarya, was launched on a Proton rocket on 20 November 1998.

    View mission: International Space Station (1998)
    Outcome
    In progress

  8. How the ISS Works: Air, Cooling, Power and Debris Defence

    Published: 11 Feb 2024

    A National Geographic Superstructures episode that takes the International Space Station apart system by system.

  9. How Shuttle Missions Built the ISS: Unity, Destiny and Canadarm2

    Published: 22 Nov 2023

    An animated explainer on how the International Space Station was assembled in its early stages using the Space Shuttle and the Canadarm robotic arm.

  10. Crew-7 Dragon Endurance Rendezvous and Docking with the ISS

    Mission: 2023Published: 27 Aug 2023

    SpaceX and NASA's live coverage follows Crew Dragon Endurance from its approach to the International Space Station through docking on Sunday, August 27, with Crew-7.

    View mission: Crew-7 (2023)
    Launch site
    Kennedy Space Center LC-39A

  11. André Kuipers’ Extended ISS Stay and Alexander Gerst’s Training

    Published: 7 Mar 2022

    A documentary filmed partly in 3D aboard the International Space Station, following ESA astronaut André Kuipers on his long stay on the ISS and Alexander Gerst through his training in Houston,…

    Vehicle
    Soyuz
    Launch site
    Baikonur Cosmodrome