Manufacturing the International Space station was a challenge in itself, but assembling it in pieces in orbit, and getting each one to fit perfectly was quite another. Over thirty space shuttle flights (and five Russian Proton and Soyuz launches) were need to build the station, not including manu other vehicles and missions to service it and stock with food supplies, equipment and logistics. Starting in 1998, the first element was launched. The schedule was interupted several times, most severely with the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster in 2003. Despite these setbacks, construction percevered, and In July 2011, the space station was declared accetably complete. Over the years, more modules were added (from commerical ones to new add-ons), with many more still coming in the coming years.