Salyut 5

Mission Profile

Salyut 5 (OPS-3) was the third and final Soviet Almaz military space station, launched on 22 June 1976 aboard a Proton-K as a classified reconnaissance platform operated by the Soviet Air Force. The station hosted two crews in 1976 and 1977, who conducted Earth photography missions using high-resolution optical cameras, processed the film aboard the station, and returned it to Earth via re-entry capsules. Salyut 5 was the last Almaz station to operate with a crew; subsequent Almaz hardware flew as unmanned satellites. The station reentered on 8 August 1977 after 412 days in orbit, marking the end of the Soviet crewed military space station program.