Salyut 1 became the first space station when the Soviet Union launched it on 19 April 1971.
The station was a civilian version of a Soviet orbital-station design and was also associated with the military Almaz program. It was launched by a Proton-K rocket and operated in low Earth orbit. Salyut 1 had living quarters, scientific equipment, and a docking port for visiting spacecraft.
The first crew to reach it flew aboard Soyuz 10, but their docking attempt did not allow them to enter the station. The crew of Soyuz 11 later entered Salyut 1 and spent more than three weeks aboard it. They died during the return journey after a cabin-pressure accident, making the mission one of the most tragic events in early human spaceflight.
Salyut 1 was followed by additional Salyut stations. Mir, launched in 1986, was a later and much larger Soviet space station, not the first.