International cooperation in manned space-flight. Part 1. Historical background

The paper discusses the history, special features and key results of international cooperation in spaceflight and the role RSC Energia played in this process, including Apollo-Soyuz Test Project, orbital stations Salyut and Mir. It points out the fact Apollo-Soyuz program established the ground rules for international cooperation, which have remained in force for more than forty years. Plenty of things were learned during missions flown onboard Soyuz spacecraft by international crews to Soviet orbital stations Salyut-6 and Salyut-7. Run on the basis of bilateral agreements were some of the larger joint programs with India, France, US and Germany. The paper presents the results of an unprecedented international program of activities and research onboard the Russian manned orbital complex Mir conducted during the 15 years of the station life in orbit, and application of this experience to the development of the International Space Station. The paper describes results and experience of cooperation with the US under programs Mir-Shuttle and Mir-NASA during Russia’s hardships of 1990s.