Apart from Skylab, the Americans have never developed an equivalent to the Saliout and MIR stations. In 1984, President Reagan launched the construction of an international space station bringing together Europe, Canada, Japan and Russia. On 20 November 1998, the first module was placed in orbit. In 2001, the ISS welcomed its first crew made up of two Russians and an American. The accident involving the Columbia shuttle in 2003 halted the arrival of various modules and the process only resumed in 2005. Europe made a modest contribution to the ISS in 2008 with the Columbus space laboratory.