  The Cold Atom Laboratory (CAL) is a quantum facility for studying ultra-cold
gases in the microgravity environment of the International Space Station. It
enables research in a temperature regime and force-free environment
inaccessible to terrestrial laboratories. In the microgravity environment,
observation times over a few seconds and temperatures below 100 pK are
achievable, unlocking the potential to observe new quantum phenomena. CAL
launched to the International Space Station in May 2018 and has been operating
since then as the world's first multi-user facility for studying ultra\-cold
atoms in space. CAL is the first quantum science facility to produce the fifth
state of matter called a Bose-Einstein condensate with rubidium-87 and
potassium-41 in Earth orbit. We will give an overview of CAL's operational
setup, outline its contributions to date, present planned upgrades for the next
few years, and consider design choices for microgravity BEC successor-mission
planning.
