Soyuz 11 Decompression Incident

Date: June 29, 1971 • Location: Qarazhal, Kazakhstan

The Soyuz 11 spacecraft experienced uncontrolled decompression during preparations for reentry, killing Soviet cosmonauts Vladislav Volkov, Georgy Dobrovolsky and Viktor Patsayev—the only human deaths to have occurred in space.

Soyuz 11 was the only crewed mission to board the world's first space station, Salyut 1. The crew – Georgy Dobrovolsky, Vladislav Volkov, and Viktor Patsayev – arrived at the space station on 7 June 1971, and departed on 29 June 1971. The mission ended in disaster when the crew capsule depressurised during preparations for re-entry, killing the three-person crew. The crew members of Soyuz 11 are the only humans to have died in space.