SOYUZ MISSIONS TO SALYUT STATIONS.

A review of the Soyuz-Salyut program shows that it has had serious problems. To the end of the Salyut 5 mission, there had been 11 Soyuz craft launched to Salyuts, of which only five successfully completed their missions (Soyuz 14 , 17, 18, 20 - unmanned - and 24). However, success has really come with the operation of Salyut 6, with seven manned missions and four unmanned missions being launched to November 1978. Of these flights, only Soyuz 25 failed, so the Soviet success record is now 22 launches to Salyuts, with 15 successful flights. Although random failures can still be expected in the Soyum-Salyut program with the increase in launch rate, most of the problems previously encountered seem to have been overcome, particularly the docking of the ferry with the station.