The solar-powered pyramid... and other space station designs that didn't take off

First-known concept for orbiting platform dreamt up in 1869

It is heralded by Nasa as an 'unprecedented achievement in global human endeavours' - a $100billion project between 16 nations which aims to advance our knowledge of the universe.

The International Space Station is the product of years, decades and even centuries of blue-sky thinking and technological innovations.

So as it celebrates its 11th year of continuous human habitation, we've taken a look back at some of the designs for orbiting outposts that didn't make it off the drawing board.

Primitive: This contraption is the first-known proposal for a space station. It was dreamt in 1869 by American author Edward Everett Hale who described a 'Brick Moon' orbiting Earth that could help guide sailing ships

Taking shape: Austrian engineer Hermann Potocnik created the first technical drawings of a space station in 1929. This three-unit station contains a living area, machine room and observatory connected by long cables

More detail: This cutaway image of a space station image appeared in NASA's 1959 Space The New Frontier brochure. The station, which could handle a crew of 50, was designed as a laboratory to study the effects of prolonged spaceflight on astronauts

At the time of its 10th anniversary on November 2 last year, the ISS had travelled more than 1.5billion miles - the equivalent to eight trips around the sun.

As of August this year, there have been 135 launches to the space station since the first module, Zarya, arrived on November 20, 1998.

More than 160 spacewalks have been conducted while assembling the station, totalling more than 1,015 hours.

The final piece was added earlier this year after more than a decade of construction.

The space station, including its large solar arrays, spans the area of an American football field and weighs 861,804lbs. The complex now has more livable room than a conventional five-bedroom house, and has two bathrooms, a gymnasium and a 360-degree bay window.

Almost off the table: The U.S. Air Force's Manned Orbiting Laboratory was designed in 1960 to assess military operations in space, but the program was cancelled in 1969 after costs had risen in excess of $3billion

Launch pad: The purpose of this 1960 three-module space station concept, designed by the Apollo program, was to transfer crews to and from orbit

Fictional idea: The space station featured in the 1968 movie 2001: A Space Odyssey is based on a model made by Wernher von Braun, the first director of NASA Marshall Space Flight Center

More like a UFO: This 1969 space station idea, also designed by the Apollo program, would rotate on its central axis to produce artificial gravity, which simulates a more Earth-like environment for space flyers than microgravity does Massive structure: This orbit and launch facility concept designed by NASA at an unknown date was so large that its assembly could only be performed in space. The two main modules would have been combined to create a four-deck facility