Launch of Salyut 1

Date: April 19, 1971 • Location: Baikonur, Kazakhstan

Salyut 1, the first space station, was launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome near Tyuratam in the Soviet Union.

Salyut 1, also known as DOS-1, was the world's first space station. It was launched into low Earth orbit by the Soviet Union on April 19, 1971. The Salyut program subsequently achieved five more successful launches of seven additional stations. The program's final module, Zvezda (DOS-8), became the core of the Russian Orbital Segment of the International Space Station and remains in orbit today.