List of space stations

A space station is a crewed satellite designed to remain in low Earth orbit for a long period of time. In general, space stations have the ability for other spacecraft to dock to them. As of 2019, the International Space Station is the only operational crewed space station currently in orbit. Other experimental and prototype labs are also in orbit. Previous stations include the Salyut and Almaz series, Skylab, Mir and the Tiangong series.[1]

The International Space Station in front of the Earth. This image was taken by Space Shuttle Discovery while pulling away during STS-119.
Skylab viewed from the command module of Skylab 2

Space stations are used to study the effects of long-term space flight on the human body. They also serve as a platform for extended scientific studies.[2] All space stations have been designed with the intention of rotating multiple crews, with each crew member staying aboard the station for weeks or months, but rarely more than a year. As of today, Vladimir Titov, Musa Manarov, Sergei Avdeyev and Valeriy Polyakov have completed single missions of over a year, all aboard Mir.[3]

Space stations have been used for both military and civilian purposes. The first military-use space station was Salyut 2, which was launched by the Soviet Almaz program in 1973.[4] The Soviet Union also claimed the first civilian space station with the launch of Salyut 1. As of 2019, Russia, China, India , and private companies are building space stations.

Past stations

These stations have re-entered the atmosphere and disintegrated.

The Soviet Union ran two programs simultaneously in the 1970es, both of which were called Salyut publicly. The Long Duration Orbital Station (DOS) program was intended for scientific research into spaceflight. The Almaz program was a secret military program that tested space reconnaissance.[5]

      = Never crewed

Name Entity Program Crew
size		 Launched Reentered Days
in orbit		 Days
occu-
pied		 Total crew
and visitors		 Number of
crewed visits		 Number of
robotic visits		 Mass
(* = at launch)		 Pressurized volume
Salyut 1  USSR DOS[6] 3[7] 19 April 1971[8] 11 October 1971[9] 175 24[10] 6[11] 2[11] 0[11] 18,425 kg (40,620 lb)[8] 100 m3 (3,500 cu ft)[12]
DOS-2 USSR DOS[13] —[lower-alpha 1] 29 July 1972[8][14] 29 July 1972 failed to reach orbit — — — — 18,000 kg (40,000 lb)[15] —
Salyut 2 USSR Almaz[14] —[lower-alpha 1] 3 April 1973[14] 16 April 1973[14] 13[14] — — — — 18,500 kg (40,800 lb)[16] —
Kosmos 557 USSR DOS[17] —[lower-alpha 1] 11 May 1973[18] 22 May 1973[19] 11 — — — — 19,400 kg (42,800 lb)[15] —
Skylab NASA Skylab[20] 3[21] 14 May 1973[22] 11 July 1979[23] 2249 171[24] 9[25] 3[26] 0[27] 77,088 kg (169,950 lb)[28] 360 m3 (12,700 cu ft)[29]
Salyut 3 USSR Almaz[6] 2[30] 25 May 1974[31] 24 January 1975[32] 213 15[33] 2[33] 1[33] 0 18,900 kg (41,700 lb)*[34] 90 m3 (3,200 cu ft)[17]
Salyut 4 USSR DOS[35] 2[36] 26 December 1974[37] 3 February 1977[37] 770[37] 92[38] 4[38] 2[38][39] 1[38] 18,900 kg (41,700 lb)[17]* 90 m3 (3,200 cu ft)[17]
Salyut 5 USSR Almaz[35] 2[40] 22 June 1976[41] 8 August 1977[42] 412 67[43] 4[43] 3[43] 0[43] 19,000 kg (42,000 lb)[17]* 100 m3 (3,500 cu ft)[17]
Salyut 6 USSR DOS[35][44] 2[45] 29 September 1977[45] 29 July 1982[46] 1764 683[47] 33[47] 16[47] 14[47] 19,000 kg (42,000 lb)[48] 90 m3 (3,200 cu ft)[49]
Salyut 7 USSR 3[50] 19 April 1982[51] 7 February 1991[51] 3216[51] 861[50] 22[50] 10[50] 15[50] 19,000 kg (42,000 lb)[52] 90 m3 (3,200 cu ft)[17]
Mir
3[53] 19 February 1986[54][lower-alpha 2] 23 March 2001[23][54] 5511[54] 4594[55] 125[55] 39[56] 68[55] 129,700 kg (285,900 lb)[57] 350 m3 (12,400 cu ft)[58]
Tiangong-1 CNSA Tiangong program 3[59] 29 September 2011[60][61] 2 April 2018[62] 2377 25[63] 6[63][64] 2[63] 1[65] 8,506 kg (18,753 lb)[66] 15 m3 (530 cu ft)[67]
Tiangong-2 CNSA 2 15 September 2016 19 July 2019 1037 26 2 1 1 8,506 kg (18,753 lb)[66] 15 m3 (530 cu ft)[67]

Note: Prototypes and various parts of Chinese, Japanese, and Russian, U.S. programs are in orbit, but not necessarily operational.

Prototypes

These stations and parts are prototypes; they only exist as testing platforms and will never be crewed. OPS 0855 was part of a cancelled Manned Orbiting Laboratory project by the United States, while the Genesis stations were launched privately.

Name Entity Program Launched Reentered Days in orbit Mass Pressurized volume
OPS 0855 US Air Force MOL 3 November 1966[68] 9 January 1967[68] 67 9,680 kg (21,340 lb) 11.3 m3 (400 cu ft)
Genesis I Bigelow Aerospace 12 July 2006[69] (In Orbit) 5085 1,360 kg (3,000 lb)[70] 11.5 m3 (410 cu ft)[71]
Genesis II Bigelow Aerospace 28 June 2007[69] (In Orbit) 4734 1,360 kg (3,000 lb)[70] 11.5 m3 (406 cu ft)[71]

Operational stations

As of 2020, only one station is orbiting Earth with life support system in place and fully operational.

Name Entity Crew size Launched Days in orbit[lower-alpha 3] Days
occupied		 Total crew
and visitors		 Crewed
visits		 Robotic
visits		 Mass Pressurized
volume
International Space Station
6[72] 20 November 1998[72][lower-alpha 2] 7876 7165[73] 230[73] 88 [74] 94 [74] 419,725 kg (925,335 lb)[75] 915.6 m3 (32,300 cu ft)[76]

Planned and proposed

These space stations have been announced by their host entity and are currently in planning, development or production. The launch date listed here may change as more information becomes available.

Name Entity Planned
crew size		 Planned
launch date
Chinese large modular space station CNSA
3
 2020–2022[77]
Space Complex Alpha Bigelow Aerospace
3+[78]
 2020[79]
Space Complex Bravo Bigelow Aerospace
24[80]
 2020 or later[79]
Lunar Gateway NASA
Roscosmos
ESA
CSA
4
 2022[81]
Von Braun Station Gateway Foundation
100
 2025[82]
Axiom Commercial Space Station Axiom Space
TBD
 2028
TBD ISRO
3
 ~2030[83][84][85][86]
Lunar Orbital Station[87]
(LOS)		 Roscosmos
TBD[lower-alpha 4]
 after 2030[88]
Indonesian Space Station LAPAN
TBD
 2030-2035[89]

Cancelled projects
The interior of Skylab B, on display at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum

Most of these stations were cancelled due to financial difficulties. However, Mir-2 and Freedom were later converted into the joint International Space Station project.

Space station Entity Crew size Launch date Remarks
Manned Orbiting Laboratory 1–7 NASA 2[90] Mockup launched 3 November 1966[91]
7 stations scheduled for 1970-1974[92]		 Canceled due to excessive costs in 1969[93]
Skylab B NASA 3[94] Between 1975 and 1979 (planned)[95] Constructed, but launch canceled due to lack of funding.[96] Now a museum piece.
OPS-4 USSR c.1978 Constructed but never launched, due to cancellation of the Almaz program.
Freedom NASA 14–16[97] March 1994[98] Converted into the International Space Station[98]
Mir-2 RFSA 2 [99] 1993[100]
Galaxy Bigelow Aerospace Robotic[101] late 2008 (planned)[101] Canceled due to rising costs and ability to ground test key Galaxy subsystems[102]
Almaz commercial Excalibur Almaz 4 or more 2015 Lack of funds.
Orbital Piloted Assembly and Experiment Complex
(OPSEK)		 Roscosmos 2+ Pre-ISS deorbit (2024 at earliest)[103] Canceled in 2017. OPSEK components will instead remain attached to the ISS.

Timeline
Genesis IIGenesis IInternational Space StationMirSalyut 7Salyut 6Salyut 5Salyut 4Salyut 3SkylabKosmos 557Salyut 2DOS-2Salyut 1OPS 0855
The image above contains clickable links
Timeline of previous and current space stations. Operational stations in blue, deorbited stations in green, prototype stations in grey.

See also

Notes
  1. The USSR intended to crew these stations with 2 men, however they re-entered the atmosphere before the cosmonauts were launched.
  2. Launch date of the initial module. Additional modules for this station were launched later.
  3. Correct as of 13 June 2020
  4. This station was announced in 2007, details are still forthcoming.

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