A space station (or orbital station) is a spacecraft which remains in orbit and hosts humans for extended periods of time. It therefore is an artificial satellite featuring habitation facilities. The purpose of maintaining a space station varies depending on the program. Most often space stations have been research stations, but they have also served military or commercial uses, such as hosting space tourists.
Space stations have been hosting the only continuous presence of humans in space. The first space station was Salyut 1 (1971), hosting the first crew, of the ill-fated Soyuz 11. Consecutively space stations have been operated since Skylab (1973) and occupied since 1987 with the Salyut successor Mir. Uninterrupted occupation has been sustained since the operational transition from the Mir to the International Space Station (ISS), with its first occupation in 2000.
Currently there are two fully operational space stations – the International Space Station (ISS) and China's Tiangong Space Station (TSS), which have been occupied since October 2000 with Expedition 1 and since June 2022 with Shenzhou 14. The highest number of people at the same time on one space station has been 13, first achieved with the eleven day docking to the ISS of the 127th Space Shuttle mission in 2009. The record for most people on all space stations at the same time has been 17, first on May 30, 2023, with 11 people on the ISS and 6 on the TSS.[1]
Space stations are most often modular, featuring docking ports, through which they are built and maintained, allowing the joining or movement of modules and the docking of other spacecrafts for the exchange of people, supplies and tools. While space stations generally do not leave their orbit, they do feature thrusters for station keeping.These stations have re-entered the atmosphere and disintegrated.
The Soviet Union ran two programs simultaneously in the 1970s, 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.[2]
‡ = 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[3] | 3[4] | 19 April 1971[5] | 11 October 1971[6] | 175 | 24[7] | 6[8] | 2[8] | 0[8] | 18,425 kg (40,620 lb)[5] | 100 m3 (3,500 cu ft)[9] |
DOS-2‡ | USSR | DOS[10] | —[a] | 29 July 1972[5][11] | 29 July 1972 | failed to reach orbit | — | — | — | — | 18,000 kg (40,000 lb)[12] | — |
Salyut 2‡ | USSR | Almaz[11] | —[a] | 3 April 1973[11] | 16 April 1973[11] | 13[11] | — | — | — | — | 18,500 kg (40,800 lb)[13] | — |
Kosmos 557‡ | USSR | DOS[14] | —[a] | 11 May 1973[15] | 22 May 1973[16] | 11 | — | — | — | — | 19,400 kg (42,800 lb)[12] | — |
Skylab | NASA | Skylab[17] | 3[18] | 14 May 1973[19] | 11 July 1979[20] | 2249 | 171[citation needed] | 9[21] | 3[22] | 0[23] | 77,088 kg (169,950 lb)[24] | 360 m3 (12,700 cu ft)[25] |
Salyut 3 | USSR | Almaz[3] | 2[26] | 25 May 1974[27] | 24 January 1975[28] | 213 | 15[29] | 2[29] | 1[29] | 0 | 18,900 kg (41,700 lb)*[30] | 90 m3 (3,200 cu ft)[14] |
Salyut 4 | USSR | DOS[31] | 2[32] | 26 December 1974[33] | 3 February 1977[33] | 770[33] | 92[34] | 4[34] | 2[34][35] | 1[34] | 18,900 kg (41,700 lb)[14]* | 90 m3 (3,200 cu ft)[14] |
Salyut 5 | USSR | Almaz[31] | 2[36] | 22 June 1976[37] | 8 August 1977[38] | 412 | 67[39] | 4[39] | 3[39] | 0[39] | 19,000 kg (42,000 lb)[14]* | 100 m3 (3,500 cu ft)[14] |
Salyut 6 | USSR | DOS[31][40] | 2[41] | 29 September 1977[41] | 29 July 1982[42] | 1764 | 683[43] | 33[43] | 16[43] | 14[43] | 19,000 kg (42,000 lb)[44] | 90 m3 (3,200 cu ft)[45] |
Salyut 7 | USSR | 3[46] | 19 April 1982[47] | 7 February 1991[47] | 3216[47] | 861[46] | 22[46] | 10[46] | 15[46] | 19,000 kg (42,000 lb)[48] | 90 m3 (3,200 cu ft)[14] | |
Mir |
|
3[49] | 19 February 1986[50][b] | 23 March 2001[20][50] | 5511[50] | 4594[51] | 125[51] | 39[52] | 68[51] | 129,700 kg (285,900 lb)[53] | 350 m3 (12,400 cu ft)[54] | |
Tiangong-1 | CNSA | Tiangong | 3[55] | 29 September 2011[56][57] | 2 April 2018[58] | 2377 | 25[59] | 6[59][60] | 2[59] | 1[61] | 8,506 kg (18,753 lb)[62] | 15 m3 (530 cu ft)[63] |
Tiangong-2 | CNSA | 2 | 15 September 2016 | 19 July 2019 | 1037 | 26 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 8,506 kg (18,753 lb)[62] | 15 m3 (530 cu ft)[63] |
Note: Prototypes and various parts of Chinese, Japanese, and Russian, U.S. programs are in orbit, but not necessarily operational.
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 | USAF | MOL | 3 November 1966[64] | 9 January 1967[64] | 67 | 9,680 kg (21,340 lb) | 11.3 m3 (400 cu ft) |
Genesis I | Bigelow Aerospace | 12 July 2006[65] | (In Orbit) | 6633 | 1,360 kg (3,000 lb)[66] | 11.5 m3 (410 cu ft)[67] | |
Genesis II | Bigelow Aerospace | 28 June 2007[65] | (In Orbit) | 6282 | 1,360 kg (3,000 lb)[66] | 11.5 m3 (406 cu ft)[67] |
As of 2024, only one station is orbiting Earth with life support system in place and fully operational.
Name | Entity | Crew size | Launched | Days in orbit[c] | Days occupied |
Total crew and visitors |
Crewed visits |
Robotic visits |
Mass | Pressurized volume |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
International Space Station | 7[68] | 20 November 1998[68][b] | 9424 | 8713[69] | 230[70] | 88 [71] | 94 [71] | 419,725 kg (925,335 lb)[72] | 915.6 m3 (32,300 cu ft)[73] |
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 | Program | Crew size | Launch date | Remarks |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Large modular space station | CNSA | Tiangong | 3
|
2021–2022[74] | |
Space Complex Alpha | Bigelow Aerospace | Bigelow Commercial Space Station | 12[75]
|
TBD | |
Space Complex Bravo | 24[76]
|
TBD | |||
Lunar Gateway | NASA ESA CSA JAXA |
Artemis | 4
|
2024[77] | Intended to serve as a science platform and as a staging area for the lunar landings of NASA's Artemis program and follow-on human mission to Mars. |
Russian Orbital Service Station (ROSS) |
Roscosmos | TBD
|
2028[78] | ||
Axiom Station | Axiom Space | TBD
|
2020s | Axiom and a team of companies won NASA's NextSTEP award to develop a node module to add to the International Space Station by the second half of 2024, which Axiom plans to follow with two additional modules and a power and thermal module that will eventually allow the set of modules to detach from the ISS (about a year before ISS's end of life) and continuously operate as a stand-alone space station.[79][80] | |
TBD | ISRO | Indian Human Spaceflight Programme | 3
|
~2030[81][82][83][84] | ISRO chairman K. Sivan announced in 2019 that India will not join the International Space Station and will instead build a 20 tonne space station on its own.[85] It is intended to be built in the next 5–7 years,[86] |
Lunar Orbital Station[87] (LOS) |
Roscosmos | TBD
|
after 2030[88] | ||
Stasiun Luar Angkasa Republik Indonesia (SLARI) | LAPAN | TBD
|
2030-2035[89] |
Most of these stations were canceled due to financial difficulties. However, Mir-2 was merged to Freedom and formed the basis of the International Space Station.
Name | Entity | Crew size | Remarks |
---|---|---|---|
Manned Orbiting Laboratory 1–7 | NASA | 2[90] | Canceled due to excessive costs in 1969[91] |
Skylab B | NASA | 3[92] | Constructed, but launch canceled due to lack of funding.[93] Now a museum piece. |
OPS-4 | USSR | Constructed but never launched, due to cancellation of the Almaz program. | |
Freedom | NASA | 14–16[94] | Merged to form the basis of the International Space Station |
Mir-2 | USSR Roscosmos |
2[95] | |
Galaxy | Bigelow Aerospace | Robotic[96] | Canceled due to rising costs and ability to ground test key Galaxy subsystems[97] |
Almaz commercial | Excalibur Almaz | 4 or more | Lack of funds. |
OPSEK | Roscosmos | More than 2 | Canceled in 2017. OPSEK components will instead remain attached to the ISS. |
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Media related to Space stations at Wikimedia Commons
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Notes: † Never inhabited due to launch or on-orbit failure, ‡ Part of the Almaz military program, ° Never inhabited, lacks docking mechanism. |