History - The Evolution of Space Stations

1971

Salyut-1

April 1971 – October 1971

Built by the Soviet Union at the height of the Cold War, Salyut 1 was the world’s first space station. Two astronaut crews visited the Salyut, but the first (Soyuz 10), had issues docking and had to abort. The second (Soyuz 11), docked for 23 days—the longest continuous time humans had ever lived on orbit.

There were six additional space stations in the Salyut Series, concluding with Salyut 7’s record-setting 3,216 days on-orbit by February 1991

Salyut astronaut Viktor Patsayev operated the Orion 1 Space Observatory, making him the first human to use a telescope outside Earth’s atmosphere

Salyut’s modules were the forebear of “Zvezda,” a Russian module on today’s International Space Station. Zvezda has spent over 20 years in orbit

1973

Skylab

May 1973 – February 1974

Skylab was the first U.S. Space Station and was built from the third-stage of a Saturn-V moon rocket. Skylab hosted three crews over its nine months on orbit. Skylab’s solar arrays were damaged during launch, and for the first time in history, the crew had to put on their spacesuits, go on a spacewalk, free the jammed solar panels, and save Skylab.

Each Skylab crew broke a new record for most time spent on orbit, beating Salyut-1 and peaking at 84 days in space

The crews performed many experiments on orbit, including 19 proposed by students—one of which tested a spider’s ability to spin a web without gravity

The Apollo Telescope Mount (a multi-spectral solar observatory) on Skylab offered unprecedented observation of the Sun & greatly advanced solar science

1986

Mir

February 1986 – March 2001

Mir (‘Peace’ in Russian), was the world’s first modular space station—meaning it could be assembled like Lego blocks in space. Unlike Skylab or Salyut, Mir was crewed 24/7 —astronauts would take shifts, but someone was always onboard. Eventually, Mir was leased by private company MirCorp, making it the first-ever privately operated space station.

Post-Soviet Union, Mir was a beacon of global collaboration, hosting multiple visits from the US Space Shuttle during the historic Shuttle-Mir program

Valeri Polyakov, who flew on the Mir, still holds the record for most continuous time spent on-orbit at 437 days and 18 hours

MirCorp oversaw the first-ever commercially funded crewed mission in April 2000, which lasted over two months

1998

ISS

Nov 1998 – Current

Continuously crewed since 2000, the ISS is a collaboration between the United States, the European Space Agency, Canada, Japan, & Russia. About the size of a football field from end-to-end, the ISS has hosted over 260 astronauts from over 20 countries, including multiple space tourists.

Continuously crewed since 2000, the ISS is a collaboration between the United States, the European Space Agency, Canada, Japan, & Russia. About the size of a football field from end-to-end, the ISS has hosted over 260 astronauts from over 20 countries, including multiple space tourists.

At any given time, there are six or seven astronauts onboard performing hundreds of experiments across the fields of life science, human health, materials, and astronomical observation. Research conducted aboard the ISS directly impacts everyday life on Earth, including research into Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, cancer, and heart disease; new water purification techniques; and even insights into drought-resistance for staple crops.

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It took 159 spacewalks and more than 1000 hours, over the course of 13 years, to complete the ISS

In 2009, Nanoracks, a Voyager space company, became the first company to own & operate commercial research platforms on any space station, paving the way for ISS commercialization. In 2020, the company launched and installed the Bishop Airlock, the first privately-owned permanent commercial real estate on the ISS

In 2015, fresh vegetables were grown & sampled in-space. This is critical for both space travel and growing food in challenging climates on Earth

2028

Starlab

In December 2021, Voyager Space, and its operating company Nanoracks, were awarded a $160m public-private partnership contract from NASA to design the Starlab commercial space station as part of the agency’s Commercial Destinations Free Flyer program. Starlab will be privately owned by Voyager with NASA serving as an anchor tenant. This will stimulate the space economy, ensure continued human access to low-Earth orbit, and serve as foundational infrastructure that can enable innovations once only imagined