View source for Interkosmos

{{short description|Soviet international spaceflight program}}
{{for|the 2006 film|Interkosmos (film){{!}}''Interkosmos'' (film)}}
{{Infobox space program
| name            = Interkosmos program
| image           = Interkosmos.svg
| image_size      = 200px
| caption         = Interkosmos patch
| country         = {{plainlist|
* {{flag|Soviet Union}} (1967–1991)
* {{flag|Russia}} (1992–1994)
}}
| organization    = {{plainlist|
* [[Soviet space program]] (1967–1991)
* [[Roscosmos]] (1992–1994)
}}
| purpose         = [[Human spaceflight|crewed]] and [[Uncrewed spacecraft|uncrewed]] space mission for Soviet allies
| status          = Completed
| duration        = 1967–1994
| firstflight     = {{Unbulleted list
  | Vertikal 1
  | {{Start date|1970|11|28}}
  }}
| firstcrewed     = {{Unbulleted list
  | [[Soyuz 28]]
  | {{Start date|1978|03|02}}
  }}
| lastflight      = {{Unbulleted list
  | Interkosmos 26
  | {{Start date|1994|03|02}}
  }}
| launchsite      = [[Baikonur Cosmodrome|Baikonur]]
| successes       = 
| failures        = 
| partialfailures = 
| uncrewvehicle   = 
| crewvehicle     = 
| capacity        = 
| launcher        = 
| native_name_a   = {{lang|ru|Интеркосмос Космическая Программа}}
| native_name_r   = Interkosmos Kosmicheskaya Programma
}}
{{Soviet space program sidebar}}
'''Interkosmos''' ({{langx|ru|Интеркосмос}}) was an international [[Soviet space program]] designed to promote cooperation among [[Socialist state|socialist countries]] in [[Space exploration|space exploration and research]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Burgess |first1=Colin |last2=Vis |first2=Bert |date=2016 |title=Interkosmos |url=https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-319-24163-0  |language=en |doi=10.1007/978-3-319-24163-0|isbn=978-3-319-24161-6 |url-access=subscription }}</ref> Formed in April 1967 in [[Moscow]], it was led by the [[Soviet Union]] and primarily involved allied or friendly countries from the [[Eastern Bloc]] and [[Non-Aligned Movement]], which were provided training and technical support with [[Human spaceflight|crewed]] and [[Uncrewed spacecraft|uncrewed]] space missions.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Bergess |first1=Colin |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MG__CgAAQBAJ |title=Interkosmos - The Eastern Bloc's Early Space Program |last2=Vis |first2=Bert |publisher=Springer Praxis |year=2015 |isbn=978-3-319-24161-6 |location=[[New York City|New York]] |pages=11 |doi=10.1007/978-3-319-24163-0 |lccn=2015953234}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Matignon |first=Louis de Gouyon |date=2019-04-05 |title=The Interkosmos space program |url=https://www.spacelegalissues.com/space-law-interkosmos/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200622183340/https://www.spacelegalissues.com/space-law-interkosmos/ |archive-date=2020-06-22 |access-date=2021-06-08 |website=Space Legal Issues |language=en-US}}</ref>

Interkosmos was established at the height of the [[Cold War]] "[[Space Race]]" between the Soviet Union and the [[United States]], which competed to achieve superior [[spaceflight]] capability. The respective successes were exploited by both sides for propaganda purposes, with Interkosmos aimed at demonstrating solidarity and unity between the Soviets and aligned or sympathetic countries.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Sigmund Jähn {{!}} Spaceflight, Astronaut, DDR {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Sigmund-Jahn |access-date=2025-07-18 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref>

All members of Interkosmos from the USSR were awarded [[Hero of the Soviet Union]] or the [[Order of Lenin]]. The program included members of the [[Warsaw Pact]] and [[Council for Mutual Economic Assistance|CoMEcon]], as well as other socialist states like [[Democratic Republic of Afghanistan|Afghanistan]], Cuba, [[Mongolian People's Republic|Mongolia]], and Vietnam. [[Non-Aligned Movement|Non-aligned]] nations such as India and Syria participated,<ref>{{Cite news|date=1984-04-04|title=INDIAN JOINS SOVIET PAIR IN 8-DAY SPACE MISSION|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1984/04/04/us/indian-joins-soviet-pair-in-8-day-space-mission.html|access-date=2021-06-08|issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Garthwaite|first=Rosie|date=2016-03-01|title=From astronaut to refugee: how the Syrian spaceman fell to Earth|url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/mar/01/from-astronaut-to-refugee-how-the-syrian-spaceman-fell-to-earth|access-date=2021-06-08|website=the Guardian|language=en}}</ref> as did capitalist states such as the United Kingdom, France and Austria.<ref name="Sheehan">{{cite book|last=Sheehan|first=Michael|title=The international politics of space|year=2007|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-0-415-39917-3|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=V-Z0kfqPHy8C|location=London|pages=59–61}}</ref><ref name="Burgess">{{cite book|last1=Burgess|first1=Colin |last2=Hall|first2=Rex |title=The first Soviet cosmonaut team: their lives, legacy, and historical impact|year=2008|publisher=Springer|isbn=978-0-387-84823-5|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rrdVPtCNL9AC|location=Berlin|page=331}}</ref> Most crewed missions consisted of non-Soviet cosmonauts being placed on routine flights with experienced Soviet cosmonauts.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Miroslaw Hermaszewski {{!}} Biography & Facts {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Miroslaw-Hermaszewski |access-date=2025-07-18 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref>

Interkosmos was responsible for many inaugural achievements in the history of spaceflight, including the first citizen of a country other than the U.S. or USSR ([[Vladimír Remek]] of [[Czechoslovak Socialist Republic|Czechoslovakia]]), the first black and Hispanic person ([[Arnaldo Tamayo Méndez]] of Cuba), and the first Asian person ([[Phạm Tuân]] of Vietnam).

==History==
Beginning in April 1967 with unpiloted research [[satellite]] missions, the first crewed Interkosmos mission occurred in February 1978.<ref name="Burgess" /> Joint crewed spaceflights enabled 14 non-Soviet [[cosmonaut]]s to participate in [[Soyuz (spacecraft)|Soyuz]] space flights between 1978 and 1988. The program was responsible for sending into space the first citizen of a country other than the US or USSR: [[Vladimír Remek]] of [[Czechoslovak Socialist Republic|Czechoslovakia]].<ref name="Sheehan" /> Interkosmos also resulted in the first black and Hispanic person in space, [[Arnaldo Tamayo Méndez]] of Cuba, and the first Asian person in space, [[Phạm Tuân]] of Vietnam. Of the countries involved, only [[Bulgarian cosmonaut program|Bulgaria sent two cosmonauts]] to space, although the second one did not fly under the Interkosmos program, and the French ''[[spationaut]]'' [[Jean-Loup Chrétien]] flew on two flights.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Pinkham |first=Sophie |date=2019-07-16 |title=How the Soviets Won the Space Race for Equality |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/16/us/how-the-soviets-won-the-space-race-for-equality.html |access-date=2021-06-08 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

The Soviet Union also offered commercial joint human spaceflight missions to the United Kingdom and Japan, resulting in the first British and Japanese cosmonauts. In the early 1980s, an offer was made to Finland, with test pilot [[:fi:Jyrki Laukkanen|Jyrki Laukkanen]] mentioned a potential candidate. The pilots of the Test Flight ({{lang|fi|Koelentue}}) refused on the grounds that participation would not benefit the flight or test pilot activity in any way; no further offers were made to Finland.<ref>{{cite web |date=10 July 2019 |title=Jyrki Laukkasesta piti tulla Suomen ensimmäinen kosmonautti – kieltäytyi kutsusta, kun siitä ei olisi ollut mitään hyötyä |url=https://yle.fi/uutiset/3-10869586 |access-date=July 26, 2020 |publisher=Yle.fi |language=fi}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Jyrki Laukkanen |url=https://www.suomentietokirjailijat.fi/kirjailijalle/tutustu-tietokirjailijaan/jyrki-laukkanen.html |access-date=July 26, 2020 |publisher=Suomen Tietokirjailijat ry |language=fi}}</ref>

==Crewed missions==
[[File:Interkosmos.png|thumb|left|350px|{{legend|#FF0000|[[Human spaceflight]] provider}} {{legend|#00FF00|participants}} {{legend|#FFFF00|refused offer}}]]
{{clear|left}}
{| class="wikitable"
! Date !! Image !! Prime !! Backup !! Country !! Mission !! Pin !! Space station
|-
|align="center"|2 March 1978
|| [[File:VladimirRemek.jpg|75px]]
|align="center"|[[Vladimír Remek]]<ref>{{Cite book | last = Roberts | first = Andrew Lawrence | title = From Good King Wenceslas to the Good Soldier Švejk: a dictionary of Czech popular culture  | publisher = [[Central European University Press]]  | location = Budapest  | year = 2005  | page = 141  | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=BWg8CdosOpMC | isbn = 963-7326-26-X }}</ref>
|align="center"|[[Oldrich Pelcak|Oldřich Pelčák]]
|align="center"|{{flagicon image|Flag of Czechoslovakia.svg|size=50px}}
[[Czechoslovak Socialist Republic|Czechoslovakia]]
|align="center"|[[Soyuz 28]]<br>[[File:Soyuz 28 mission patch.svg|50px]]
|align="center"|[[File:Soyuz-28 Pin.jpg|50px]]
|align="center"|[[Salyut 6]]
|-
|align="center"|27 June 1978
|| [[File:Miroslaw H.jpg|75px]]
|align="center"|[[Mirosław Hermaszewski]]
|align="center"|[[Zenon Jankowski]]
|align="center"|{{flagicon image|Flag_of_Poland_(1928-1980).svg|size=50px}}
[[Polish People's Republic|Poland]]
|align="center"|[[Soyuz 30]]<br>[[File:Soyuz 30 mission patch.svg|50px]]
|align="center"|[[File:Soyuz-30 Intercosmos pin.jpg|50px]]
|align="center"|Salyut 6
|-
|align="center"|26 August 1978
|| [[File:Sigmund Jahn cropped.jpg|75px]]
|align="center"|[[Sigmund Jähn]]
|align="center"|[[Eberhard Köllner]]
|align="center"|{{flagicon image|Flag of German Democratic Republic.svg|size=50px}}
[[East Germany]]
|align="center"|[[Soyuz 31]]<br>[[File:Soyuz 31 mission patch.svg|50px]]
|align="center"|[[File:Soyuz-31 Intercosmos.jpg|50px]]
|align="center"|Salyut 6
|-
|align="center"|10 April 1979
||[[File:Georgi ivanov-676x1024.jpg|75px]]
|align="center"|[[Georgi Ivanov (cosmonaut)|Georgi Ivanov]]
|align="center"|[[Aleksandr Panayotov Aleksandrov|Aleksandr Aleksandrov]]
|align="center"|{{flagicon image|Flag of Bulgaria (1971-1990).svg|size=50px}}
[[People's Republic of Bulgaria|Bulgaria]]
|align="center"|[[Soyuz 33]]<br>[[File:Soyuz-33 patch.png|50px]]
|align="center"|[[File:Soyuz-33 Intercosmos.jpg|50px]]
|align="center"|Salyut 6<br/>(Docking failed)
|-
|align="center"|26 May 1980
||[[File:Bertalan Farkas first Hungarian astronaut.jpg|75px]]
|align="center"|[[Bertalan Farkas]]
|align="center"|[[Béla Magyari]]
|align="center"|{{flagicon image|Flag of Hungary.svg|size=50px}}
[[Hungarian People's Republic|Hungary]]
|align="center"|[[Soyuz 36]]<br>[[File:Soyuz36 patch.png|50px]]
|align="center"|[[File:Soyuz-36 Intercosmos pin depicting the flown crew.jpg|50px]]
|align="center"|Salyut 6
|-
|align="center"|23 July 1980
|| [[File:Phạm Tuân .JPG|75px]]
|align="center"|[[Phạm Tuân]]
|align="center"|[[Bùi Thanh Liêm]]
|align="center"|{{flagicon image|Flag of Vietnam.svg|size=50px}}
[[Vietnam]]
|align="center"|[[Soyuz 37]]<br>[[File:Soyuz37 patch.png|50px]]
|align="center"|[[File:Soyuz-37 Intercosmos pin.jpg|50px]]
|align="center"|Salyut 6
|-
|align="center"|18 September 1980
||[[File:Arnaldo Tamayo Berlin 2018 - 2.jpg|75px]]
|align="center"|[[Arnaldo Tamayo Méndez]]
|align="center"|[[José López Falcón]]
|align="center"|{{flagicon image|Flag of Cuba.svg|size=50px}}
[[Cuba]]
|align="center"|[[Soyuz 38]]<br>[[File:Soyuz38 patch.png|50px]]
|align="center"|[[File:Soyuz-38 Intercoms pin.jpg|50px]]
|align="center"|Salyut 6
|-
|align="center"|23 March 1981
||[[File:Jügderdemidiin Gürragchaa.jpeg|75px]]
|align="center"|[[Jügderdemidiin Gürragchaa]]
|align="center"|[[Maidarjavyn Ganzorig]]
|align="center"|{{flagicon image|Flag of the People's Republic of Mongolia (1949-1992).svg|size=50px}}
[[Mongolian People's Republic|Mongolia]]
|align="center"|[[Soyuz 39]]<br>[[File:Soyuz39 patch.png|50px]]
|align="center"|[[File:Soyuz-39 Intercosmos pin.jpg|50px]]
|align="center"|Salyut 6
|-
|align="center"|14 May 1981
||[[File:Stamp of Moldova md389.jpg|75px]]
|align="center"|[[Dumitru Prunariu]]
|align="center"|[[Dumitru Dediu]]
|align="center"|{{flagicon image|Flag of Romania (1965-1989).svg|size=50px}}
[[Socialist Republic of Romania|Romania]]
|align="center"|[[Soyuz 40]]<br>[[File:Soyuz 40 mission patch.svg|50px]]
|align="center"|[[File:Soyuz-40 Intercosmos pin depicting the flown crew.jpg|50px]]
|align="center"|Salyut 6
|-
|align="center"|24 June 1982
||[[File:Chretien.jpg|75px]]
|align="center"|[[Jean-Loup Chrétien]]
|align="center"|[[Patrick Baudry]]
|align="center"|{{flagicon image|Flag of France.svg|size=50px}}
[[France]]
|align="center"|[[Soyuz T-6]]<br>[[File:Soyuz T-6 mission patch.png|50px]]
|
|align="center"|[[Salyut 7]]
|-
|align="center"|2 April 1984
||[[File:Rakesh sharma.jpg|75px]]
|align="center"|[[Rakesh Sharma]]
|align="center"|[[Ravish Malhotra]]
|align="center"|{{flagicon image|Flag of India.svg|size=50px}}
[[India]]
|align="center"|[[Soyuz T-11]]<br>[[File:Soyuz-T-11-Mission-Patch.svg|50px]]
|align="center"|[[File:Soyuz-T11 Intercosmos pin depicting the flown crew.jpg|50px]]
|align="center"|Salyut 7
|-
|align="center"|22 July 1987
|| [[File:Muhammed Ahmed Faris.jpg|75px]]
|align="center"|[[Muhammed Faris|Muhammed Ahmed Faris]]
|align="center"|[[Munir Habib Habib]]
|align="center"|{{flagicon image|Flag of Syria (1980–2024).svg|size=50px}}
[[Ba'athist Syria|Syria]]
|align="center"|[[Soyuz TM-3]]<br>[[File:Soyuz TM-3 mission patch.svg|50px]]
|
|align="center"|[[Mir]]
|-
|align="center"|7 June 1988
||[[File:Александр Александров Панайотов.JPG|75px]]
|align="center"|[[Aleksandr Panayotov Aleksandrov|Aleksandr Aleksandrov]]
|align="center"|[[Krasimir Mihaylov Stoyanov|Krasimir Stoyanov]]
|align="center"|{{flagicon image|Flag of Bulgaria (1971-1990).svg|size=50px}}
[[People's Republic of Bulgaria|Bulgaria]]
|align="center"|[[Soyuz TM-5]]<br>[[File:Soyuz TM-5 mission patch.svg|50px]]
|
|align="center"|Mir
|-
|align="center"|29 August 1988
|| 
|align="center"|[[Abdul Ahad Mohmand]]<ref>{{Cite book | last1 = Bunch | first1 = Bryan | last2 = Hellemans | first2 = Alexander |title = The history of science and technology: a browser's guide to the great discoveries, inventions, and the people who made them, from the dawn of time to today | publisher = Houghton Mifflin Harcourt  | location = New York  | year = 2004  | page = [https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780618221233/page/679 679]  | url = https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780618221233 | url-access = registration | isbn = 0-618-22123-9 }}</ref>
|align="center"|[[Mohammad Dauran Ghulam Masum]]
|align="center"|{{flagicon image|Flag of Afghanistan (1987–1992).svg|size=50px}}
[[Democratic Republic of Afghanistan|Afghanistan]]
|align="center"|[[Soyuz TM-6]]<br>[[File:Soyuz TM-6 patch.svg|50px]]
|
|align="center"|Mir
|-
|align="center"|26 November 1988
||[[File:Chretien.jpg|75px]]
|align="center"|[[Jean-Loup Chrétien]]
|align="center"|[[Michel Tognini]]
|align="center"|{{flagicon image|Flag of France.svg|size=50px}}
[[France]]
|align="center"|[[Soyuz TM-7]]<br>[[File:Soyuz TM-7 patch.png|50px]]
|
|align="center"|Mir
|-
|align="center"|2  December 1990
||[[File:Toyohiro-Akiyama-First-Japanese-Person-in-Space-1990.png|75px]]
|align="center"|[[Toyohiro Akiyama]] 
|align="center"|[[Ryoko Kikuchi]]
|align="center"|{{flagicon image|Flag of Japan (1870–1999).svg|size=50px}}
[[Japan]]
|align="center"|[[Soyuz TM-11]]<br>[[File:Soyuz TM-11 patch.png|50px]]
|
|align="center"|Mir
|-
|align="center"|18 May 1991
||[[File:Dr. Helen Sharman (cropped).jpg|75px]]
|align="center"|[[Helen Sharman]] 
|align="center"|[[Timothy Mace]]
|align="center"|{{flagicon image|Flag of United Kingdom.svg|size=50px}}
[[United Kingdom]]
|align="center"|[[Soyuz TM-12]]<br>[[File:Soyuz TM-12 patch.png|50px]]
|
|align="center"|Mir
|-
|align="center"|2 October 1991
|| 
|align="center"|[[Franz Viehböck]]
|align="center"|[[Clemens Lothaller]]
|align="center"|{{flagicon image|Flag of Austria.svg|size=50px}}
[[Austria]]
|align="center"|[[Soyuz TM-13]]<br>[[File:Soyuz TM-13 patch.png|50px]]
|
|align=" center"|Mir
|}

==Uncrewed missions==
* 1970 November 28 — Vertikal-1 Aeronomy/Ionosphere/Solar mission.
* 1971 August 20 — Vertikal-2 Solar Ultraviolet/Solar X-ray mission.
* 1972 April 7 — Interkosmos 6 - Investigation of primary cosmic radiation and meteoritic particles in near-earth outer space.
* 1973 April 4 — Interkosmos 9 "''[[Nicolaus Copernicus|Copernicus]]-500''" - satellite of cooperation of the [[People's Republic of Poland|Polish People's Republic]] and [[Soviet Union]] to study the [[Sun]] and [[ionosphere]]. Orbit around 200–1550&nbsp;km.
* 1975 June 3 — Interkosmos 14
* 1975 September 2 — Vertikal-3 Solar Ultraviolet/Solar X-ray mission.
* 1976 — Re-entry Vehicle Test mission.
* 1976 June 19 — Interkosmos 15. Testing of new systems and components of satellite under space flight conditions.
* 1977 March 29 — Investigation of the upper atmosphere and outer space.
* 1977 June 17 — Signe 3 - Twenty French specialists worked on the satellite.
* 1977 August 30 — Vertikal-5 Solar Ultraviolet/Solar X-ray mission.
* 1977 September 24 — Interkosmos 17 - Investigation of energetic charged and neutral particles and micrometeorite fluxes in circumterrestrial space.
* 1977 October 25 — Vertikal-6 Ionosphere/Solar mission.
* 1978 October 24 — Interkosmos 18 - Conduct of complex investigations on the interaction between the magnetosphere and ionosphere of the earth. Cooperation with the [[Czechoslovak Socialist Republic]], the [[East Germany|German Democratic Republic]], the [[People's Republic of Hungary|Hungarian People's Republic]], the [[People's Republic of Poland|Polish People's Republic]], and the [[Socialist Republic of Romania]].
* 1978 October 24 — Magion 1 - The Czechoslovak satellite MAGION was launched into orbit by the Soviet spacecraft Interkosmos 18
* 1978 November 3 — Vertikal-7 Ionosphere/Solar mission
* 1979 February 27 — Interkosmos 19 - Cooperation with the [[People's Republic of Bulgaria]], the [[Czechoslovak Socialist Republic]], the [[People's Republic of Hungary|Hungarian People's Republic]], and the [[People's Republic of Poland|Polish People's Republic]].
* 1979 September 26 — Vertikal-8 Solar Ultraviolet/Solar X-ray mission.
* 1979 November 1 — Interkosmos 20. (Czechoslovak Socialist Republic, the German Democratic Republic, the Hungarian People's Republic, and the Socialist Republic of Romania).
* 1981 — Re-entry Vehicle Test mission.
* 1981 February 6 — Interkosmos 21 - (Czechoslovak Socialist Republic, the German Democratic Republic, the Hungarian People's Republic, and the Socialist Republic of Romania)
* 1981 August 7 — [[Bulgaria 1300|Interkosmos 22]] "''Bulgaria-1300''" (People's Republic of Bulgaria).
* 1981 August 28 — Vertikal-9 Solar Ultraviolet/Solar X-ray mission.
* 1981 September 21 — Oreol 3 - Developed by Soviet and French specialists under the joint Soviet-French project 'Arkad-3'.
* 1985 April 26 — Interkosmos 23 - Developed by scientists and specialists of the USSR and the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic.
* 1986 December 18 — Kosmos 1809
* 1989 September 28 — Magion 2 - Part of the scientific programme of Interkosmos 24 (project Aktivnyj) Execution of the scientific programme of the 'Aktivny' project in conjunction with Interkosmos-24, permitting simultaneous spatially separating investigations of plasma processes in circumterrestrial space.
* 1989 September 28 — Interkosmos 24 - U.S. participation, in cooperation with Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, the German Democratic Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Romania (the international scientific project entitled 'Aktivny'). Carrying the Czechoslovak Magion-2 satellite.
* 1991 December 18 — Interkosmos 25 - Experiments from [[Reunification of Germany|Germany]], Romania, Bulgaria, Poland, Hungary. Comprehensive study of the effects of artificial impact of modulated electron flows and plasma beams on the ionosphere and magnetosphere of the Earth (forming part of the Apex international scientific project, conducted jointly with Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Germany, Hungary, Poland, and Romania.)
* 1991 December 28 — Magion 3.<ref>[https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1991-086E '''NSSDCA/COSPAR ID:''']</ref> 
* 1994 March 2 — Interkosmos 26 - Conduct of comprehensive investigations of the sun under the Coronas-I international project developed by [[History of Russia (1992–present)|Russian]] and [[History of Ukraine#Independence|Ukrainian]] experiments in cooperation with specialists from Poland, the [[Czech Republic]], the [[Slovakia|Slovak Republic]], Bulgaria, France, and the United Kingdom.

== Legacy ==
Following the [[Apollo–Soyuz]] mission, there were talks between [[NASA]] and Interkosmos in the 1970s about a "Shuttle–Salyut" program to fly [[Space Shuttle]] missions to a Salyut space station, with later talks in the 1980s even considering flights of the future [[Buran-class orbiter|''Buran''-class orbiter]] to a future US space station.<ref name="MIRheritage">[[Wikisource:Mir Hardware Heritage/Part 2 - Almaz, Salyut, and Mir#2.1.6 Shuttle-Salyut .281973-1978.3B 1980s.29]].</ref> Whilst the Shuttle–Salyut program never materialized during the existence of the Soviet Interkosmos program, after the [[dissolution of the Soviet Union]] the [[Shuttle–Mir program]] would follow in these footsteps in the mid-1990s and eventually pave the way to the [[International Space Station]].

==Films==
In general, most of the films associated with programs are short TV documentaries from that era.{{citation needed|date=May 2024}} The two exceptions include (largely fictionalised) ''[[Interkosmos (film)|Interkosmos]]'' from 2006, and cooperation document from 2009 (in Polish) titled ''Lotnicy Kosmonauci'' ("Aviators-Cosmonauts").<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.filmpolski.pl/fp/index.php?film=4224264|title=FilmPolski|website=Filmpolski.pl|access-date=10 August 2017}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Spaceflight|Soviet Union}}
* [[Bion (satellite)|Bion satellites]], a series of biology research satellites from 1966 to 1996 – participation of the [[United States]] from 1975 to 1996.
* [[Vega 1]] and [[Vega 2]], two Solar System probes, in the joint [[Vega program]] between the Soviet Union, [[Austria]], Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Czechoslovakia, France, the German Democratic Republic ("East Germany"), and the [[West Germany|Federal Republic of Germany]] ("West Germany") in December 1984.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Interkosmos}}
* {{Britannica|1524264}}
* [https://www.pdfdrive.com/interkosmos-the-eastern-blocs-early-space-program-e175326026.html ''Interkosmos: The Eastern Bloc's Early Space Program'']
* [https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803100006842?rskey=qcp2eA&result=2 A Dictionary of Space Exploration]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20161227215923/http://astronautix.com/i/intercosmos.html Intercosmos]
{{Interkosmos}}
{{Public sector space agencies}}
{{European human spaceflight}}

[[Category:Interkosmos program]]
[[Category:Space program of the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Foreign relations of the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Eastern Bloc]]
[[Category:East Germany–Soviet Union relations]]
[[Category:Poland–Soviet Union relations]]
[[Category:Hungary–Soviet Union relations]]
[[Category:Czechoslovakia–Soviet Union relations]]
[[Category:Cuba–Soviet Union relations]]
[[Category:Romania–Soviet Union relations]]
[[Category:Soviet Union–Syria relations]]
[[Category:India–Soviet Union relations]]
[[Category:Afghanistan–Soviet Union relations]]
[[Category:Soviet Union–Vietnam relations]]
[[Category:Bulgaria–Soviet Union relations]]
[[Category:1970s in spaceflight]]
[[Category:1980s in spaceflight]]