On 16 December at 01h09 Baikonur time / 15 December 19h09 GMT, ESA Astronaut Paolo Nespoli will fly on a Soyuz to the International Space Station (ISS) for a six months mission.

ISS is now completed and it must be noted that around 50% of the ISS pressurised modules are "made in Europe".

This story presents the current status of our international outpost on orbit.