What is a space station?

A space station is a form of space habitat that is capable of maintaining a human crew in orbit for a prolonged length of time. It lacks significant propulsion and landing systems. An orbital station, sometimes known as an orbiting space station, is a form of artificial satellite (i.e. a type of orbital spaceflight). Docking ports are required on stations so that other spacecraft may dock and transfer people and supplies. Depending on the program, the objective of maintaining an orbiting outpost varies. The majority of space stations have been launched for research objectives; however military launches have also happened.

So far, space stations have been the only long-term direct human presence in space. Following the first station, Salyut 1 (1971), and its tragic Soyuz 11 crew, space stations have been operated in succession since Skylab (1973), allowing a progression of long-duration direct human presence in space. Since 1987, when the Salyut successor Mir arrived, stations have been manned by successive crews. Since the operational transition from the Mir to the ISS, with its initial occupation in 2000, stations have been occupied without interruption. The ISS has housed the most people in space at the same time, reaching 13 for the first time during STS-127's eleven-day docking in 2009.