List of space stations

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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

A space station is a manned 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 2012, the International Space Station and Tiangong 1 are the only operational space stations currently in orbit. Previous stations include the Salyut and Almaz series, Skylab, and, most recently, Mir.
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. 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 2012, Vladimir Titov, Musa Manarov, and Valeriy Polyakov have completed single missions of over a year, all aboard Mir.

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. The Soviet Union also claimed the first civilian space station with the launch of Salyut 1. As of 2012, Russia, China, 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, both of which were known to the outside world as Salyut. 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 tactics.

Name	Entity	Program	Crew size	Launched	Reentered	Days in orbit	Days occupied	Total crew and visitors	Number of manned visits	Number of unmanned visits	Mass	Pressurized volume
Salyut 1	USSR	DOS	3	19 April 1971	11 October 1971	175	24	6	2	0	18,425 kg (40,620 lb)	100 m3 (3,500 cu ft)
DOS-2	USSR	DOS	—	29 July 1972	29 July 1972 (failed to reach orbit)	—	—	—	—	—	18,000 kg (40,000 lb)	—
Salyut 2	USSR	Almaz	—	3 April 1973	16 April 1973	13	—	—	—	_	18,500 kg (40,800 lb)	—
Kosmos 557	USSR	DOS	—	11 May 1973	22 May 1973	11	—	—	—	—	19,400 kg (42,800 lb)	—
Skylab	NASA	Skylab	3	14 May 1973	11 July 1979	2249	171	9	3	0	77,088 kg (169,950 lb)	360 m3 (12,700 cu ft)
Salyut 3	USSR	Almaz	2	25 May 1974	24 January 1975	213	15	2	1	0	18,900 kg (41,700 lb) (at launch)	90 m3 (3,200 cu ft)
Salyut 4	USSR	DOS	2	26 December 1974	3 February 1977	770	92	4	2	1	18,900 kg (41,700 lb) (at launch)	90 m3 (3,200 cu ft)
Salyut 5	USSR	Almaz	2	22 June 1976	8 August 1977	412	67	4	3	0	19,000 kg (42,000 lb) (at launch)	100 m3 (3,500 cu ft)
Salyut 6	USSR	DOS	2	29 September 1977	29 July 1982	1764	683	33	16	14	19,000 kg (42,000 lb)	90 m3 (3,200 cu ft)
Salyut 7	USSR	DOS	3	19 April 1982	7 February 1991	3216	861	22	10	15	19,000 kg (42,000 lb)	90 m3 (3,200 cu ft)
Mir	USSR RFSA	DOS	3	19 February 1986	23 March 2001	5511	4594	125	39	68	129,700 kg (285,900 lb)	350 m3 (12,400 cu ft)

Prototypes

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

Name	Entity	Program	Launched	Reentered	Days in orbit	Mass	Pressurized volume
OPS 0855	US Air Force	MOL	3 November 1966	9 January 1967	67	9,680 kg (21,340 lb)	11.3 m3 (400 cu ft)
Genesis I	Bigelow Aerospace		12 July 2006	(In Orbit)	3724	1,360 kg (3,000 lb)	11.5 m3 (410 cu ft)
Genesis II	Bigelow Aerospace		28 June 2007	(In Orbit)	3373	1,360 kg (3,000 lb)	11.5 m3 (406 cu ft)

Operational stations

These stations are currently orbiting Earth. They have life support systems in place.

Name	Entity	Crew size	Launched	Days in orbit	Days occupied	Total crew and visitors	Manned visits	Unmanned visits	Mass	Pressurized volume
International Space Station	NASA RFSA ESA CSA JAXA	6	20 November 1998	6515	5804	215	75	72	417,289 kg (919,965 lb)	907 m3 (32,000 cu ft)
Tiangong 1	CNSA	3	29 September 2011	1819	25	6	2	1	8,506 kg (18,753 lb)	15 m3 (530 cu ft)
Tiangong 2	CNSA	2	15 September 2016	6	0	0	0	0	8,600 kg (19,000 lb)

Planned stations

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

Name	Entity	Planned crew size	Planned launch date
Space Complex Alpha	(private)	3+	2017 or later
Space Complex Bravo	(private)	24	2017 or later
Tiangong 3	CNSA	3	2022
Orbital Piloted Assembly and Experiment Complex (OPSEK)	RFSA	Unknown	Pre-ISS deorbit
Chinese space station (to be named at a later date)	CNSA	3	After Tiangong 3
Almaz commercial	(private)	4 or more

Cancelled projects

An image of the interior of Skylab B, on display at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum

Space station	Entity	Crew size	Launch date	Remarks
Manned Orbiting Laboratory 1-7	NASA	2	Mockup launched 3 November 1966 (In orbit 40 days, cancelled after launch)	Canceled due to excessive costs
Skylab B	NASA	3	Between 1975 and 1979 (planned)	Canceled due to lack of funding
Galaxy	(private)	Unmanned	late 2008 (planned)	Canceled due to rising costs and ability to ground test key Galaxy subsystems
Mir-2	RFSA	2	1993	Canceled due to financial difficulties
Freedom	NASA	14-16	March 1994	Converted into the International Space Station

Timeline