Salyut 6
Salyut 6 — the first second-generation Soviet station, with two docking ports that enabled crew handovers, Progress resupply and long-duration stays (1977-1982).
Key facts
Science
Mission
- Operator
- NPO Energia (USSR)
- Launched
- September 29, 1977
- Status
- Completed
Mission
Salyut 6, launched on 29 September 1977, was the breakthrough second-generation Soviet station and the first that could truly stay occupied. Where earlier stations had a single docking port, Salyut 6 had two — one at each end — so a fresh Soyuz could arrive while another was docked, and automated Progress freighters could deliver propellant, food and equipment. That simple change transformed orbital life: crews could be relieved without the station ever emptying, endurance records climbed past 180 days, and 'Intercosmos' guest cosmonauts from across the Eastern bloc and beyond flew short visits. Over nearly five years Salyut 6 hosted sixteen crews and pioneered the resupply-and-rotation rhythm that every station since — Mir and the ISS included — would follow. It was deorbited on 29 July 1982, having turned the space station from a brief experiment into a sustainable home.
- 1977A station with two doorsLaunch
Salyut 6 launches with a docking port at each end, enabling resupply and crew rotation.
- 1978First dual occupancyMilestone
Two Soyuz dock at once, proving a station can be relieved without ever standing empty.
- 1978First Progress freighterDeployment
An automated Progress delivers cargo and propellant — the first robotic resupply of a station.
- 1980Beyond half a year in orbitMilestone
Crews push the endurance record past 180 days, with guest cosmonauts from across the Intercosmos programme.
- 1982DeorbitMission end
After hosting sixteen crews, Salyut 6 re-enters, having made the space station sustainable.
Images
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