WASHINGTON, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- International Space Station, now the largest spacecraft ever built, turns 10 on Thursday, marking a milestone in the history of space exploration.

"After 10 years, we wish the international space station a happy birthday and we hope to see many, many more," U.S. space shuttle Endeavour commander Christopher Ferguson, who is now aboard the station, said in a taped message from the orbiting complex.

The orbital assembly of the space station began with the launch from Kazakhstan of its first bus-sized component, Zarya, on Nov. 20, 1998.

The launch began an international construction project by NASA, the Russian Federal Space Agency, Canadian Space Agency, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA, and 11 members of the European Space Agency, or ESA: Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

More than 100,000 people in space agencies and contractor facilities throughout the world are involved in this endeavor, according to the statistics from NASA official website.

"It's hard to believe it's been 10 years," said Kirk Shireman, NASA's deputy station program manager. "This Thursday is a major milestone for the space station."

U.S. space shuttle Endeavour is now up there on a "home improvement" mission for the station. It delivered two sleeping quarters, a second toilet, a resistance exercise device and a water purification system. With these all installed and tested, the station will can house six-person crew by spring 2009, double from the current three long-duration residents.

Endeavour's crew is also doing a service call for the orbital home.

On Thursday afternoon, two spacewalkers are just celebrating the station's 10th birthday with some mundane, but much needed, spacewalk maintenance.

Endeavour mission specialists Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper and Shane Kimbrough floated outside the station for the second of four planned spacewalks, cleaning and lubricating a jammed solar array gear.

Before the excursion kicked off, wishes of "Happy Birthday!"' and "Happy Anniversary!" flew back and forth between flight controllers around the world and the space station's Expedition 18Commander, Mike Fincke.

"The station's capability and sheer size today are truly amazing," said NASA's space station program manager Mike Suffredini. Ten years later, the station's mass has expanded to more than 300,000 kgs, and its interior volume is more than 25,000cubic feet, comparable to the size of a five-bedroom house.

Since Zarya's launch as the early command, control and power module, there have been 29 additional construction flights to the station: 27 aboard U.S. space shuttle and two additional Russian launches.

Till now, 167 individual representing 14 countries have visited the complex. Crews have eaten some 19,000 meals aboard the station since the first crew took up residence in 2000. Through the course of 116 spacewalks and unmatched robotic construction in space, the station's truss structure has grown to 90-meter long so far. Its solar arrays now is large enough to cover six basketball courts.

The International Space Station hosts 19 research facilities, including nine sponsored by NASA, eight by ESA and two by JAXA.

"With the International Space Station, we have learned so many things -- and we're going to take that knowledge and apply it to flying to the moon and Mars," said Commander Fincke.
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