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The Salyut era: First space stations
During the 1970s, the USSR launched a series of progressively sophisticated orbital laboratories serving as habitats for increasingly lenghty crew visits. They were preparing the foundation for permanent presence of humans in the Earth's orbit.

Key figures in the Soviet space program attending launch in Tyuratam in the mid 1970s (left to right): cosmonauts Georgy Beregovoy and Vladimir Shatalov, Designer General of NPO Energia Valentin Glushko, Minister of General Machine-building Sergey Afanasiev, Director of NPO Energia's ZEM experimental plant Konstantin Vachnadze and General Kerim Kerimov, the Chairman of the State Commission. Photo-collage by Anatoly Zak
The USSR begins enduring space station program
Faced with the loss of the Moon Race in 1969, Soviet space strategists conceived a detour of the national human space flight effort to a less expensive but what would turn out to be a lasting effort — the development of a long-term habitat in space.
Building the first Salyut
Conceived, designed and assembled in merely 16 months, Salyut-1 was the product of a three-shift, no-days-off working marathon and the epitome of improvisation. Many design decisions were made right “in the field” during the actual assembly of the station, with leading engineers keeping round-the-clock vigil at the Khrunichev production plant.
Design of the first Salyut space station
The Salyut space station, identified in the industrial documentation as 17K, structurally consisted of a transfer compartment with a diameter of 2.1 meters, followed by the main work section, in turn containing a science instrument compartment, and closed up with an instrument section.
The USSR orbits its first space station
On April 19, 1971, at 04:40 Moscow Time, a three-stage UR-500K (Proton) rocket lifted off from the "Right" pad at Site 81 in Tyuratam and a few minutes later successfully delivered into orbit the first 17K space station (No. 12101). Unknown to the world, the name Zarya (sunrise) had been painted on its body, however the official Soviet media announced it as Salyut-1.
The USSR launches first space station crew
Four days after the Salyut space station entered orbit on April 19, 1971, the first crew was also on its way. After one aborted launch attempt, the Soyuz-10 transport ship lifted off with three cosmonauts in early hours of April 23, 1971, and reached the station the following day, but then ran into a string of potentially dangerous problems just inches away from its destination.
Soyuz-11 begins a fateful expedition to Salyut
On June 6, 1971, three Soviet cosmonauts, assigned to the flight at the last minute, departed Earth aboard the Soyuz-11 spacecraft for a record-breaking month-long flight aboard the Salyut space station.
Soyuz-11 crew lost at landing
On June 30, 1971, the three members of the Soyuz-11 crew lost their lives just minutes from landing when their Descent Module suddenly depressurized on its way back to Earth from the Salyut orbital laboratory.
Kosmos-496: Fixing Soyuz-11 flaws
On June 26, 1972, the Soviet space program made its first major step on a difficult road to recovery from the Soyuz-11 disaster a year earlier. The upgraded version of the 7K-T vehicle orbited the Earth without crew in the autonomous flight under name Kosmos-496.
DOS-7K No. 2: A failed Salyut
On July 29, 1972, the USSR attempted to launch a second copy of the Salyut space station, however, its UR-500K (Proton) rocket failed to reach orbit, so the mission was never publicly announced.
DOS-7K No. 3: Skylab's challenger
On May 11, 1973, the USSR launched its fourth space station and the first major upgrade of the original Salyut design, just days ahead of the American Skylab. The 19-ton Soviet lab reached orbit as planned, but an immediate crisis put Soviet engineering and mission control teams to a severe test... Today, it is often only an asterisk in history books, but in 1973, the launch of DOS-3 produced a political earthquake across the Soviet space program and even got the KGB involved.
Soviet and Russian
space station launches:
Salyut-1 |
|
TsKBEM |
|
1
|
Oct.
11, 1971 |
The
first crew docked but was not able to enter the station. |
Unannounced |
DOS-2 |
TsKBEM |
July
29, 1972 |
-
|
- |
Did
not reach the orbit due to the Proton launcher
failure. |
Salyut-2 |
|
TsKBM |
April
3, 1973 |
-
|
May
28, 1973 |
Depressurized
after being hit by debris from the exploded Proton upper stage. |
Kosmos-557 |
DOS-3 |
TsKBEM |
May
11, 1973 |
- |
May
1973 |
A control
system failure caused the drainage of the onboard fuel. |
Salyut-3 |
|
TsKBM |
June
25, 1974 |
1
|
- |
- |
Salyut-4 |
DOS-4 |
TsKBEM |
Dec.
26, 1974 |
2 |
Feb.
3, 1977 |
- |
Salyut-5 |
|
TsKBM |
June
22, 1976 |
2
|
August
8, 1977 |
- |
Salyut-6 |
DOS-5 |
NPO
Energia |
Sept.
29, 1977 |
16 |
July
28, 1982 |
The
first crew was not able to dock with the station |
Salyut-7 |
DOS-5-2 |
NPO
Energia |
April
19 , 1982 |
9 |
Feb.
7, 1991 |
- |
Mir |
DOS-7 |
NPO
Energia |
Feb.
20, 1986 |
- |
|
Core module of the Mir space station |
Zvezda |
DOS-8 |
RKK
Energia |
July
12, 2000 |
- |
In orbit |
A service module for the International Space Station, ISS |
Soviet
launches related to space station projects and solo Soyuz flights in 1971-1985:
Salyut-1 |
|
|
- |
- |
- |
Soyuz-10 |
7K-T No. 31 |
April
23, 1971 |
April
24, 1971 |
V.
Shatalov,
A. Yeliseyev,
N. Rukavishnikov |
Docked
to Salyut-1 on April 24. Failed to open the hatch in the station |
Soyuz-11 |
7K-T No. 32 |
June
6, 1971 |
|
G.
Dobrovolskiy,
V. Volkov,
V. Patsaev |
Docked
to Salyut from June 7 to June 29. The crew is lost due to depressurization
during landing. |
Kosmos-496 |
7K-T No. 33 |
June
26, 1972 |
July
1, 1972 |
- |
Test flight of the 7K-T spacecraft upgraded after the Soyuz-11 accident |
Unannounced |
DOS-7K No. 2 |
July
29, 1972 |
- |
- |
Did
not reach the orbit due to the Proton
launcher failure |
Salyut-2 |
|
April
3, 1973 |
- |
- |
Depressurized
after being hit by debris from the exploded Proton upper stage |
Kosmos-557 |
DOS-7K No. 3 |
May
11, 1973 |
- |
- |
Control
system failure caused drainage of the onboard fuel |
Kosmos-573 |
7K-T |
June
15, 1973 |
June
17, 1973 |
- |
7K-T
test flight |
Soyuz-12 |
7K-T |
Sept. 27, 1973 |
Sept. 29, 1973 |
V. Lazarev,
O. Makarov |
7K-T test flight |
Kosmos-613 |
7K-T |
Nov.
30, 1973 |
Jan.
28, 1974 |
- |
7K-T
test flight |
Soyuz-13 |
7K-T |
Dec.
18, 1973 |
Dec.
26, 1973 |
P.
Klimuk,
V. Lebedev |
- |
Kosmos-638 |
7K-TM
No. 71 |
April
3, 1974 |
April
13, 1974 |
- |
Soyuz-Apollo
test flight |
Kosmos-656 |
7K-T
No. 61 |
May
27, 1974 |
May
29, 1974 |
- |
7K-T
test version for the Almaz project |
Salyut-3 |
|
June
25, 1974 |
|
- |
|
Soyuz-14 |
7K-T |
July
3, 1974 |
July
19, 1974 |
P.
Popovich,
Y. Artyukhin |
Docked
to Salyut-3 from July 5 to July 19 |
Kosmos-670 |
7K-S
No. 1L |
Aug.
6, 1974 |
Aug.
8, 1974 |
- |
7K-S/ST
(Soyuz T) test flight |
Kosmos-672 |
7K-TM
No. 72 |
Aug.
12, 1974 |
Aug.
18, 1974 |
- |
Soyuz-Apollo
test flight |
Soyuz-15 |
7K-T |
August
26, 1974 |
August
28, 1974 |
G.
Sarafanov,
L. Demin |
Failed
to dock with Salyut-3 due to Igla
system failure |
Soyuz-16 |
7K-TM |
Dec.
2, 1974 |
Dec.
8, 1974 |
A.
Filipchenko,
N. Rukavishnikov |
Soyuz-Apollo
test flight |
Salyut-4 |
DOS-7K No. 4 |
Dec.
26, 1974 |
- |
- |
- |
Soyuz-17 |
7K-T |
Jan.
11, 1975 |
Feb.
9, 1975 |
A. Gubarev,
G. Grechko |
Docked
to Salyut-4 from Jan. 12 to Feb. 9, 1975 |
Soyuz-18-1 |
7K-T |
April
5, 1975 |
- |
V.
Lazarev,
O. Makarov |
Suborbital
flight due to third stage failure |
Soyuz-18 |
7K-T |
May
24, 1975 |
July
26, 1975 |
P.
Klimuk,
V. Sevastyanov |
Docked
to Salyut-4 from May 26 to July 26. |
Soyuz-19 |
7K-TM |
July
15, 1975 |
July
21, 1975 |
A.
Leonov,
V. Kubasov |
Docked
with Apollo July 17-19. |
Kosmos-772 |
7K-S
No. 2L |
Sept.
29, 1975 |
Oct.
2, 1975 |
- |
7K-S/ST
(Soyuz T) test flight |
Soyuz-20 |
7K-T |
Nov.
17, 1975 |
Feb.
16, 1976 |
- |
Docked
to Salyut-4 from Nov. 19, 1975 to Feb. 16, 1976 |
Salyut-5 |
|
June
22, 1976 |
- |
- |
- |
Soyuz-21 |
7K-T |
July
6, 1976 |
Aug
24, 1976 |
B.
Volunov,
V. Zholobov |
Docked
to Salyut-5 from July 7 to August
24. |
Soyuz-22 |
7K-T |
Sept.
15, 1976 |
Sept.
23, 1976 |
V.
Bukovsky,
V. Aksenov |
Solo
remote-sensing flight at 64.7-degree orbit |
Soyuz-23 |
7K-T |
Oct.
14, 1976 |
Oct.
16, 1976 |
V.
Zudov,
V. Rozhdestvenskiy |
Failed
to dock to Salyut-5. Splashed down
in Lake Tengiz |
Kosmos-869 |
7K-S
No. 3L |
Nov.
29, 1976 |
Dec.
17, 1976 |
- |
7K-S/ST
(Soyuz T) test flight |
Soyuz-24 |
7K-T |
Feb.
7, 1977 |
Feb.
25, 1977 |
V.
Gorbatko,
Yu. Glazkov |
Docked
to Salyut-5 from Feb. 8 to Feb. 25 |
Kosmos-929 |
|
July
17, 1977 |
Aug.
16, 1977 (unmanned capsule) |
- |
TKS
test. Deorbited Feb. 2, 1978 |
Salyut-6 |
DOS-7K No. 5-1 |
Sept.
29, 1977 |
- |
- |
- |
Soyuz-25 |
7K-T |
Oct.
9, 1977 |
Oct.
11, 1977 |
V.
Kovalenok,
V. Ryumin |
Failed
to dock to Salyut-6 |
Soyuz-26 |
7K-T |
Dec.
10, 1977 |
Jan.
16, 1978 |
Y.
Romanenko,
G. Grechko (landed on Soyuz-27) |
Docked
to Salyut-6 from Dec. 11 to Jan. 16. |
Soyuz-27 |
7K-T |
Jan.
10, 1978 |
March
16, 1978 |
V.
Dzhanibekov,
O. Makarov (landed on Soyuz-26) |
Docked
to Salyut-6 from Jan. 11 to March 16. |
Progress-1 |
- |
Jan.
20, 1978 |
- |
- |
Docked
to Salyut-6 from Jan. 22 to Feb. 6. Deorbited Feb. 8 |
Soyuz-28 |
7K-T |
March
3, 1978 |
March
10, 1978 |
A.
Gubarev,
V. Remek |
Docked
to Salyut-6 from March 3 to March 10. |
Kosmos-1001 |
7K-ST
No. 4L |
April
4, 1978 |
April
15, 1978 |
- |
7K-ST
(Soyuz T) test flight |
Soyuz-29 |
7K-T |
June
15, 1978 |
Sept.
3, 1978 |
V.
Kovalenok,
A. Ivanchekov (landed on Soyuz 31) |
Docked
to Salyut-6 from June 16 to Sept 3. |
Soyuz-30 |
7K-T |
June
27, 1978 |
July
5, 1978 |
P.
Klimuk,
M. Germashevskiy |
Docked
to Salyut-6 from June 28 to July 5. |
Progress-2 |
- |
July
7, 1978 |
- |
- |
Docked
to Salyut-6 from July 9 to Aug. 2. Deorbited Aug. 4 |
Progress-3 |
- |
Aug.
8, 1978 |
- |
- |
Docked
to Salyut-6 from Aug. 10 to Aug. 21. Deorbited Aug. 24 |
Soyuz-31 |
7K-T |
Aug.
26, 1978 |
Nov.
2, 1978 |
V.
Bykovskiy,
S. Yen (landed on Soyuz 29) |
Docked
to Salyut-6 from Aug 27 to Nov. 11. Redocked Sept. 7 |
Progress-4 |
- |
Oct.
4, 1978 |
- |
- |
Docked
to Salyut-6 from Oct. 6 to Oct. 24. Deorbited Oct. 26 |
Kosmos-1074 |
7K-ST
No. 5L |
Jna.
31, 1979 |
April
1, 1979 |
- |
7K-ST
(Soyuz T) test flight |
Soyuz-32 |
7K-T |
Feb.
25, 1979 |
June
13, 1979 |
V.
Lyakhov,
V. Ryumin (landed on Soyuz 34) |
Docked
to Salyut-6 from Feb. 26 to June 13. Landed unmanned |
Progress-5 |
- |
March
12, 1979 |
- |
- |
Docked
to Salyut-6 from March 14 to April 3. Deorbited April 5 |
Soyuz-33 |
7K-T |
April
10, 1979 |
April
12, 1979 |
N.
Rukavishnikov,
G. Ivanov |
Failed
to dock with Salyut-6 |
Progress-6 |
- |
May
13, 1979 |
- |
- |
Docked
to Salyut-6 from May 15 to June 8. Deorbited June 10 |
Soyuz-34 |
7K-T |
June
6, 1979 |
Aug.
19, 1979 |
Launched
unmanned |
Docked
to Salyut-6 from June 7 to Aug. 19. Redocked June 14 |
Progress-7 |
- |
June
28, 1979 |
- |
- |
Docked
to Salyut-6 from June 30 to July 18. Deorbited July 20 |
Soyuz
T |
7K-ST
No. 6L |
Dec.
16, 1979 |
March
26, 1980 |
- |
Docked
to Salyut-6 from Dec. 19 to March 24. |
Progress-8 |
- |
March
27, 1980 |
- |
- |
Docked
to Salyut-6 from March 29 to April 25. Deorbited April 26 |
Soyuz-35 |
7K-T |
April
9, 1980 |
June
3, 1980 |
L.
Popov,
V. Ryumin (landed on Soyuz 37) |
Docked
to Salyut-6 from April 10 to June 3. |
Progress-9 |
- |
April
27, 1980 |
- |
- |
Docked
to Salyut-6 from April 29 to May 20. Deorbited May 22 |
Soyuz-36 |
7K-T |
May
26, 1980 |
July
31, 1980 |
V.
Kubasov,
B. Farkash (landed on Soyuz 35) |
Docked
to Salyut-6 from May 27 to July 31. Redocked on June 4. |
Soyuz
T-2 |
7K-ST
No. 7L |
June
5, 1980 |
June
9, 1980 |
Y.
Malushev,
V. Aksenov |
Docked
to Salyut-6 from June 6 to June 9. |
Progress-10 |
- |
June
29, 1980 |
- |
- |
Docked
to Salyut-6 from July 1 to July 18. Deorbited July 19 |
Soyuz-37 |
7K-T |
July
23, 1980 |
Oct.
11, 1980 |
V.
Gorbatko,
Fam Tuan (landed on Soyuz 36) |
Docked
to Salyut-6 from July 24 to Oct. 11. (Redocked on Aug. 1) |
Soyuz-38 |
7K-T |
Sept.
18, 1980 |
Sept.
26, 1980 |
Y.
Romanenko,
Tomayo Mendes |
Docked
to Salyut-6 from Sept. 19 to Sept. 26. |
Progress-11 |
- |
Sept.
28, 1980 |
- |
- |
Docked
to Salyut-6 from Sept. 30 to Dec. 9. Deorbited Dec. 11 |
Soyuz
T-3 |
7K-ST
No. 8L |
Nov.
27, 1980 |
Dec.
12, 1980 |
L.
Kizim,
O. Makarov,
G. Strekalov |
Docked
to Salyut-6 from Nov. 28 to Dec. 12. |
Progress-12 |
- |
Jan.
24, 1981 |
- |
- |
Docked
to Salyut-6 from Jan. 26 to March 19. Deorbited March 21 |
Soyuz
T-4 |
- |
March
12, 1981 |
May
26, 1981 |
V.
Kovalenok,
V. Savinukh |
Docked
to Salyut-6 from March 13 to May 26. |
Soyuz-39 |
7K-T |
March
22, 1981 |
March
30, 1981 |
V.
Dzhanibekov,
Zh. Gurragcha |
Docked
to Salyut-6 from March 23 to March 30. |
Kosmos-1267 |
|
April
21, 1981 |
May
24, 1981 (unmanned capsule) |
- |
Docked
to Salyut-7 June 19. Deorbited with Salyut-6 |
Soyuz-40 |
7K-T |
May
14, 1981 |
May
22, 1981 |
L.
Popov,
D. Prunariy |
Docked
to Salyut-6 from May 15 to May 22. |
Salyut-7 |
DOS-5-2 |
April
19, 1982 |
- |
|
|
Soyuz
T-5 |
7K-ST |
May
13, 1982 |
Aug.
27, 1982 |
A.
Berezovoy,
V. Lebedev (returned on Soyuz T-7) |
Docked
to Salyut-7 from May 14 to Aug. 27. |
Progress-13 |
- |
May
23, 1982 |
- |
- |
Docked
to Salyut-7 from May 25 to June 4. Deorbited June 6 |
Soyuz
T-6 |
7K-ST |
June
24, 1982 |
July
2, 1982 |
V.
Dzhanibekov,
A. Ivanchenkov,
J. L. Chrétien |
Docked
to Salyut-7 from June 25 to July 2. |
Progress-14 |
- |
July
10, 1982 |
- |
- |
Docked
to Salyut-7 from July 12 to Aug. 11. Deorbited Aug. 13 |
Soyuz
T-7 |
7K-ST |
Aug.
19 , 1982 |
Dec.
10, 1982 |
L.
Popov,
A. Serebrov,
S. Savitskaya (landed on Soyuz T-5) |
Docked
to Salyut-7 from Aug. 20 to Dec. 10 |
Progress-15 |
- |
Sept.
18, 1982 |
- |
- |
Docked
to Salyut-7 from Sept. 20 to Oct. 14. Deorbited Oct. 16 |
Progress-16 |
- |
Oct.
31, 1982 |
- |
- |
Docked
to Salyut-7 from Nov. 2 to Dec. 13. Deorbited Dec. 14 |
Kosmos-1443 |
|
March
2, 1983 |
Aug.
23, 1983 (unmanned capsule) |
- |
Docked
to Salyut-7 from March 10 Aug. 14. Deorbited Sept. 19 |
Soyuz
T-8 |
7K-ST |
April
20, 1983 |
April
22, 1983 |
V.
Titov,
A. Serebrov,
G. Strekalov |
Failed
to dock to Salyut-7. |
Soyuz
T-9 |
7K-ST |
June
27, 1983 |
Nov.
23, 1983 |
V.
Lyakhov,
A. Aleksandrov |
Docked
to Salyut-7 from June 28 to Nov. 23 |
Progress-17 |
- |
Aug.
17, 1983 |
- |
- |
Docked
to Salyut-7 from Aug. 19 to Sept. 17. Deorbited Sept. 18 |
Soyuz
T |
7K-ST
No. 16L |
Sept.
26, 1983 |
- |
V.
Titov,
G. Strekalov |
|
Progress-18 |
- |
Oct.
20, 1983 |
- |
- |
Docked
to Salyut-7 from Oct. 22 to Nov. 13. Deorbited Nov. 16 |
Soyuz
T-10 |
7K-ST |
Feb. 8, 1984 |
April 11, 1984 |
L.
Kizim,
V. Soloviev,
O. Atkov |
Docked
to Salyut-7 from Feb. 9 to April 11 |
Progress-19 |
- |
Feb.
20, 1984 |
- |
- |
Docked
to Salyut-7 from Feb. 22 to March 31. Deorbited April 1 |
Soyuz
T-11 |
- |
April 3, 1984 |
Oct. 2, 1984 |
Y.
Malyshev,
G. Strekalov,
R. Sharma (landed on Soyuz T-10) |
Docked
to Salyut-7 from April 4 to - Oct. 2 Redocked on April 13 |
Progress-20 |
- |
April
15, 1984 |
- |
- |
Docked
to Salyut-7 from April 17 to May 6. Deorbited May 7 |
Progress-21 |
- |
May
7, 1984 |
- |
- |
Docked
to Salyut-7 from May 10 to May 26. Deorbited May 26 |
Progress-22 |
- |
May
28, 1984 |
- |
- |
Docked
to Salyut-7 from May 30 to July 15. Deorbited July 15 |
Soyuz
T-12 |
- |
July 17, 1984 |
July 29, 1984 |
V.
Dzhanibekov,
S. Savitskaya,
I. Volk |
Docked
to Salyut-7 from July 18 to July 29 |
Progress-23 |
- |
Aug.
14, 1984 |
- |
- |
Docked
to Salyut-7 from Aug. 16 to Aug. 26. Deorbited Aug. 28 |
Soyuz
T-13 |
- |
June 6, 1985 |
Sept. 26, 1985 |
V.
Dzhanibekov,
V. Savinykh (landed on Soyuz T-14) |
Docked
to Salyut-7 from June 8 to Sept. 25 |
Progress-24 |
- |
June
21, 1985 |
- |
- |
Docked
to Salyut-7 from June 23 to July 15. Deorbited July 15 |
Kosmos-1669 |
- |
July
16, 1985 |
- |
- |
Docked
to Salyut-7 from July 18 Aug. 28. Deorbited Aug. 30 |
Soyuz
T-14 |
- |
Sept. 17, 1985 |
Nov. 21, 1985 |
V.
Vasyutin,
G. Grechko, (landed on Soyuz T-13)
A. Volkov |
Docked
to Salyut-7 from Sept. 18 to Nov. 21 |
Kosmos-1686 |
|
Sept. 27, 1985 |
- |
- |
Docked
to Salyut-7 on Oct. 2, 1985 |
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