Salyut 3

Mission Profile

Salyut 3 (OPS-2, Almaz 2) was a Soviet military space station launched on 25 June 1974 aboard a Proton-K, operated by the Soviet Air Force as a reconnaissance platform under the secret Almaz program. Unlike civilian Salyut stations, Salyut 3 carried high-resolution cameras for imaging strategic targets and was equipped with a 23mm autocannon — the only known instance of a weapon being installed on a crewed spacecraft. A single crew of two cosmonauts occupied the station for 15 days before Salyut 3 was deorbited in January 1975 after successfully completing its classified mission objectives. The Almaz program remained secret until declassified by Russia in the 1990s.