ISS (ZARYA)
Identity
Operator attribution (GCAT)
Houston:Clear Lake, Texas (US)
Attribution from GCAT (J. McDowell), ingested under CC-BY-4.0 and shown alongside — not in place of — the catalogue owner above. GCAT reflects one researcher's editorial synthesis of public sources; treat it as evidence of the operator, not as a determination.
McDowell, J., General Catalog of Artificial Space Objects (GCAT), planet4589.org/space/gcat, CC-BY-4.0
UN registration
Registration metadata as reproduced in GCAT from the UN Register (ST/SG/SER.E and A/AC.105/INF series). Registration is a self-assertion by the state of registry; under Registration Convention Art. II a state of registry must be a launching state.
Corporate succession
| Organisation phase | From | To | State |
|---|---|---|---|
| NASA Manned Spacecraft Center MSC | 1962-03-01 | 1973-02-17 | US |
| NASA Johnson Space Flight Center JSC current ← at this object's attribution | 1973-02-17 | — | US |
Phases of the same organisation (GCAT UCode JSC) through renames, acquisitions and restructurings. Continuity of the operating entity does not by itself transfer liability, which under Liability Convention Art. II–III attaches to the launching state.
Aliases
NAME: ISS (ZARYA)
NORAD: 25544
Launch
Orbit
Launching State
| Limb | State | Tier | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| State of registry | US | T1 official record | Registered with the UN by US in ST/SG/SER.E/614 Registration Convention Art. II — a State of registry must be a launching State |
| Procurement | US | T4 inferred | Inferred from owner nationality: NASA Johnson Space Flight Center (US) Outer Space Treaty Art. VII — State which procures the launching (INFERRED, not established) |
A State qualifies if it launches, procures the launching, or the launch is from its territory or facility — more than one State can qualify for one object, and launching States are jointly and severally liable (Liability Convention Art. V). Launching-State status is fixed at launch and does not transfer when operators change. Tier 4 claims are inferred from owner nationality and are the weakest: rideshare procurement through integrators is genuinely contestable.
Legal framework
| Instrument & provision | What it means for this object |
|---|---|
| Outer Space Treaty (1967), Art. VIII 610 UNTS 205 · sha256:2312a1b376199f71… |
The state of registry retains jurisdiction and control over this object; ownership is unaffected by its presence in space. |
| Registration Convention (1975), Arts. II & IV 1023 UNTS 15 · sha256:9e35e1301842aad7… |
The launching state must carry this object on a national registry and furnish identifying information to the UN registry. |
| Outer Space Treaty (1967), Art. VII 610 UNTS 205 · sha256:2312a1b376199f71… |
The launching state is internationally liable for damage caused by this object on Earth, in air space or in outer space. |
| Liability Convention (1972), Arts. II–III 961 UNTS 187 · sha256:44c2c2bcdb79eeb0… |
Absolute liability for damage on the surface of the Earth or to aircraft; fault-based liability for damage in space. |
| Outer Space Treaty (1967), Art. VI 610 UNTS 205 · sha256:2312a1b376199f71… |
The responsible state bears international responsibility for this operator's activities, which require authorization and continuing supervision. |
Legal context, not legal advice. Provisions cited from the Space Law Corpus (DOI 10.5281/zenodo.21185483), a provenance-tracked record of the authoritative texts; each citation carries the SHA-256 of the exact corpus text relied on. Applicability to a specific object depends on facts (launching state(s), registry state, operator nationality) that this registry records on a best-effort basis.