Operational stations As of , two stations are orbiting Earth with life support system in place and fully operational. Name Entity Crew size Launched Days in orbitCorrect as of Daysoccupied Total crewand visitors Crewedvisits Roboticvisits Mass Pressurizedvolume Habitablevolume International Space Station 7 20 November 1998 230 88 94 Tiangong space station 3–6 29 April 2021 33 11 10
Past stations These stations have re-entered the atmosphere and disintegrated. The Soviet Union ran two programs simultaneously in the 1970s, both of which were called Salyut publicly. The Long Duration Orbital Station (DOS) program was intended for scientific research into spaceflight whilst the Almaz program was a secret military program that tested space reconnaissance.
= Never crewed
Name ProgramEntity Crew size Launched Reentered Daysin orbit Daysoccu-pied Total crewand visitors Number ofcrewed visits Number ofrobotic visits Mass (* = at launch) Pressurizedvolume Salyut 1 DOS DOS-2 DOS —The USSR intended to crew these stations with two men, however they re-entered the atmosphere before the cosmonauts were launched. Salyut 2Almaz — Kosmos 557 DOS (Full text available on Wikisource) — Skylab Skylab NASA Salyut 3 Almaz Salyut 4 DOS Salyut 5 Almaz Salyut 6 DOS Salyut 7DOS Mir DOS Tiangong-1 Tiangong 3 29 September 2011 2 April 20182377226Shenzhou 10#Crew21 CMSA Tiangong-2 Tiangong 2 15 September 2016 19 July 2019103729211 CMSA
Prototypes These stations are prototypes; they only exist as testing platforms and were never intended to be crewed. OPS 0855 was part of a cancelled Manned Orbiting Laboratory project by the United States, while the Genesis stations were launched privately. The Genesis stations were "retired" when their avionics systems stopped working after two and a half years, yet they remained in orbit as derelict spacecraft as their orbits gradually degraded over the next 18 years. Both Genesis stations re-entered the atmosphere and were destroyed two months apart in mid-2025. Name Entity Program Launched Reentered Days in orbit Mass Pressurized volume OPS 0855 USAF MOL 3 November 1966 9 January 1967 Genesis I Bigelow Aerospace 12 July 2006 2 July 2025 Genesis II 28 June 20072 September 2025
Concepts +NameEntityCrew SizePressurized VolumeRefStation in a Box AboveTBDPioneer StationTBDVoyager StationTBDVERA Station Gateway Spaceport LLC369,523 m3Gateway Spaceport11,906,250 m3Mars Base Camp Lockheed MartinTBD
Planned and proposed These space stations have been announced by their host entity and are currently in planning, development or production. The launch date listed here may change as more information becomes available. Name Entity Program Crew size Launch datePlanned Pressurized Volume Remarks LIFE Pathfinder Sierra Space Private2026 285 m3"Before offering LIFE for Orbital Reef, though, the company is proposing to launch a standalone “pathfinder” version of LIFE as soon as the end of 2026". StarMax GraviticsPrivate2026"The StarMax module provides up to 400 cubic meters of usable habitable volume - nearly half the volume of the International Space Station in one module." Haven-1 VastPrivateQ1 202780 m3"Scheduled to be the world's first commercial space station, Haven-1 and subsequent human spaceflight missions will accelerate access to space exploration" Axiom Station Axiom Space Private 2027 Private, free flying space station for commercial tourism and science activities. Orbital Reef Blue Origin Sierra Space Private 2027830 m3 (29,000 cu ft) "Commercial station in LEO for research, industrial, international, and commercial customers." Russian Orbital Service Station Roscosmos Russia's next generation space station. 2027 With Russia leaving the ISS programme sometime after 2024, Roscosmos announced this new space station in April 2021 as the replacement for that program. Bharatiya Antariksha Station ISRO Indian Human Spaceflight Programme TBD ~ ISRO chairman K. Sivan announced in 2019 that India will not join the International Space Station, but will instead build a space station of its own. of 52 Tonne Mass It is intended to be completed 5–7 years after the conclusion of the Gaganyaan program. Starlab NanoRacks Voyager Space AirbusMDA SpaceMitsubishi Corporation Private 2028~ "Commercial platform supporting a business designed to enable science, research, and manufacturing for customers around the world." While originally Lockheed Martin was included in the project, as of 2024, it appears their primary role has been filled by Airbus, to provide the main habitat for the station. As of 2024, they are no longer listed as a partner on Starlab's website. Haven-2 VastPrivate20281160 m3A planned successor to Haven-1. Vast CEO Max Hoat expressed hope that the first module of Haven-2 will be launched in 2028 if the station will be approved during the second phase of NASA's Commercial LEO Destinations program.Thunderbird Station Max SpacePrivate2029350 m3Artificial Gravity Station VastPrivate20352160 m3 Japanese Space Station Module (Mitsui)Mitsui & Co. TBATBD Japan's spaceflight agency, JAXA, announced in July 2024 that has contracted Mitsui & Co. to develop a concept for a new space station module for eventual flight and docking to an American private space station as yet to be determined as of the initial announcement.
Cancelled projects
Most of these stations were cancelled due to financial difficulties, or merged into other projects. Name Entity Crew Cancellation Remarks Manned Orbiting Laboratory 1–7 USAF21969Boilerplate mission launched successfully, wider project cancelled due to excessive costs Skylab B NASA 31976 Constructed, but launch cancelled due to lack of funding. Now a museum piece. OPS-4 USSR 3 1979 Constructed, but Almaz program cancelled in favour of uncrewed recon satellites. Freedom NASA14–16 1993 Merged to form the basis of the International Space Station. Mir-2 USSR Roscosmos 2 Columbus MTFF ESA 3 Galaxy Bigelow Aerospace Robotic 2007 Cancelled due to rising costs and ability to ground test key Galaxy subsystems Sundancer 3 2011 Was under construction, but cancelled in favour of developing B330. Lunar Orbital Station Roscosmos 5 2007Cancelled after feasibility reports. Almaz commercial Excalibur Almaz 4+ 2016 Soviet hardware was acquired, but never launched due to lack of funds. Tiangong-3 CNSA 3 2017 The goals for Tiangong-2 and 3 were merged, and were completed by a single station rather than two separate stations. OPSEK Roscosmos 2+ 2017 Some modules such as Nauka were launched and attached to the ISS- but proposals to split these off as a separate station were cancelled, and they instead remain part of the ISS. B330 Bigelow Aerospace 32020 Test articles were constructed but not flight ready hardware; cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Northrop Grumman CLD Northrop Grumman4-82023Developed under the Commercial LEO Destinations program, cancelled by Northrop Grumman to partner with Nanoracks on Starlab. Lunar Gateway NASA ESA CSA JAXA 2026 Intended to serve as a science platform and as a staging area for the lunar landings of NASA's Artemis program and follow-on human mission to Mars. Cancelled after a major revamp of the entire Artemis program in favour of building a Moon base by 2029–2036.
Timeline
Size comparison
See also
List of commercial space stations List of crewed spacecraft Space stations and habitats in fiction Spacelab
Notes
References
External links