In one respect, Salyut had the space-race task of carrying out long-term research into the problems of living in space and a variety of astronomical, biological and Earth-resources experiments, and on the other hand, the USSR used this civilian programme as a cover for the highly secretive military Almaz stations, which flew under the Salyut designation.

The ensuing Soyuz programme was vital for evolving space station technology from a basic, engineering development stage, from single docking port stations to complex, multi-ported, long-term orbital outposts with impressive scientific capabilities, whose technological legacy continues as of 2023[update].

The first module of the ISS, the Russian-made Zarya, relied heavily on technologies developed in the Salyut programme.

[3] However, the engineers at OKB-1 perceived the L3 lunar lander effort as a dead-end and immediately switched to working on DOS.

However, as the launch of the first station in the programme was prepared, it was realised that this would conflict with the call sign Zarya of the RKA Mission Control Center (TsUP) in Korolyov – therefore the name of the space stations was changed to Salyut shortly before launch of Salyut 1.

[6] The Salyut programme was managed by Kerim Kerimov,[7] chairman of the state commission for Soyuz missions.

[8] A total of nine space stations were launched in the Salyut programme, with six successfully hosting crews and setting some records along the way.

The heritage of the Salyut programme continued to live on in the first multi-module space station Mir with the Mir Core Module ("DOS-7"), that accumulated 4,592 days of occupancy, and in the International Space Station (ISS) with the Zvezda module ("DOS-8"), that as of 21 August 2012[update] accumulated 4,310 days of occupancy.

The Soyuz 11 crew successfully docked, spending 23 days aboard Salyut 1 conducting experiments.

Soyuz 15 attempted to bring a second crew but failed to dock, after which the third planned mission to the station was cancelled.

Furthermore, the uncrewed Progress resupply craft was created based on the crewed Soyuz, to resupply the crew and station with air, air regenerators, water, food, clothing, bedding, mail, propellants, pressurant, and other supplies.

The Progress spacecraft even delivered hardware for updating onboard experiments and permitting repairs to the station, extending its life.

Salyut 6 was the first "second generation" space station, representing a major breakthrough in capabilities and operational success.

In addition to a new propulsion system and its primary scientific instrument—the BST-1M multispectral telescope—the station had two docking ports, allowing two craft to visit simultaneously.

Short-term visiting crews routinely included international cosmonauts from Warsaw pact countries participating in the Soviet Union's Intercosmos programme.

The early history of the programme was plagued by the fatalities of Soyuz 11 and three launched stations which quickly failed.

While the last space station from the Almaz programme was flown as Salyut 5 in 1976, the development of the Almaz TKS spacecraft evolved into the Functional Cargo Block, which formed the basis for several Mir modules, the experimental Polyus orbital weapons platform and the Zarya module of the ISS.

And finally, the modules for Mir were derived from the Functional Cargo Block design of the Almaz programme.

However, it was during the time of Mir that the Soviet Union was dissolved in December 1991, ending what was begun with the 1917 October Revolution in Russia.

Not only did the political change in eastern Europe signify an end of contributions to the space programme by eastern European nations (such as the East German Carl Zeiss Jena), but parts of the Soviet space industry were located in the newly independent Ukraine, which was similarly cash-strapped as Russia and started to demand hard currency for its contributions.

It was during this time of transition and upheaval that the Shuttle–Mir program was established between the Russian Federation and the United States in 1993.