The International Space Station ISS is humankind's largest technical and scientific project. It involves the United States, Russia, Japan, Canada and Europe. The contractual basis for the cooperation is an agreement between the parties' governments, which was signed in Washington on 29 January 1998. Germany is the main ISS contributor in Europe. The German Space Agency at DLR coordinates the German contributions to ESA's ISS programmes in terms of the expansion, operation and use of the space station.
