Salyut 1

DOS-1

Mission Profile

Salyut 1 (DOS-1) was the world's first space station, launched on 19 April 1971 aboard a Proton-K rocket and operated by the Soviet Union as a civilian orbital laboratory for scientific and medical research. The station successfully hosted the Soyuz 11 crew of three cosmonauts for a record 23-day stay in June 1971, but tragically all three perished upon reentry when a faulty valve caused the capsule to depressurize. Salyut 1 was deorbited on 11 October 1971 after only 175 days in orbit, but it permanently changed human spaceflight by proving that humans could live and work productively in space for extended periods aboard a dedicated orbital outpost.