The Mir space station is itself a spacecraft, orbiting the Earth at an altitude of between 354km and 374km. Each of the main components, except the Docking Module, was launched as a spacecraft, by a carrier rocket, and used its own power to reach and dock with Mir.
These components had their own engines except Kvant-1 which used a spacecraft tug.
The Docking Module was delivered to Mir by U.S. Space Shuttle.
Apart from the Shuttles 6 missions, only two type of spacecraft were used to service Mir.
Firstly variants of the Soviet/Russian Soyuz spacecraft were used to transport expedition and visiting crew to Mir. The other spacecraft were variants of the Soviet/Russian Progress, un-piloted, cargo spacecraft for supplies and equipment.
More details are given in the sections below.
The mission of a spacecraft to the station has five main steps:-
The first step is to launch the spacecraft and overcome the Earth's gravity so that it can be placed in a similar orbit to the station.
The launching method varies depending on the size and type of craft being launched. All launch vehicles, however, use either liquid or solid fuelled rocket engines.
The launch vehicles are also generally multi-staged. The first stage usually use a number of large engines to initially lift the weight of the spacecraft, launch vehicle and fuel. When the first stage fuel is used the stage and fuel tanks are discarded to be destroyed or returned to Earth for re-use. The craft is then lighter and subsequent stages use smaller engines. These stages are similarly discarded until only the spacecraft remains in orbit.
Once the spacecraft is in orbit it needs to catch up and match velocity and orbit with the station.
The launch vehicle can only place the spacecraft in particular orbits relative to the launching place on Earth. Spacecraft then use their own rocket engines to catch up to the station and match its orbital altitude and speed. The craft is then motionless, relative to the station, and can be docked.
Two methods are used to attach the spacecraft securely to the station with an air-tight seal.
Powered Docking - Using remote control from the station or Earth, small rocket engines (thrusters) on the craft are used to guide it to the docking point. After initial contact the docking mechanism pulls the craft in and securely locks it to the station with an air tight seal.
Capture Docking - The station's robot arm is used to grapple a fixture on the craft and move it into the initial docking contact position. This method is only used for the smaller un-piloted craft.
Un-docking is the reverse procedure to docking and uses a similar method. After un-docked the spacecraft uses its thruster to move to a safe distance clear of the station and then uses its main engines to slow down for de-orbit.
When the spacecraft has slowed sufficiently gravity pulls the craft into the Earth's atmosphere. If the craft is designed to return to Earth it will either land or use parachutes for its final descent. Some un-piloted craft are not intended to return to Earth and are destroyed by the friction of entering the atmosphere.
Spacecraft missions to the station can be grouped into the following three categories:-
***U.S. Space Shuttles have been used on the majority of the missions to transport and install the main components and associated equipment on the station. Four Russian un-piloted craft were also used on dedicated missions for Russian Segment components. New components are now delivered by U.S. commercial craft as the U.S. Space Shuttles are no longer in service.
***To date, only two types of spacecraft are capable of flying crew to the station and back to Earth. The first station crew, Expedition One, was flown to the station in a Russian Soyuz TM craft using a Russian Soyuz U booster rocket. The Soyuz TM craft remained docked to the station for use as an emergency escape vehicle for the station crew. It was regularly replaced with a "fresh" craft of the same type.
The next five station crew rotations used U.S. Space Shuttles which also carried their own crews. The Shuttle crews assisted the station crews with building and maintenance operations. The Shuttle was then grounded for a period and the Russian Soyuz craft was again used for station crew transport. This type of craft, with a number of upgrades has been used since for all station crew rotations. Shuttles have also been used to transport additional station crew.
Supplies include all those goods needed to operate, maintain, live in and use the station. The ISS is a habitable spacecraft and needs to be maintained in orbit and provide life support for its crew and visitors. It therefore requires regular deliveries of consumables such as fuel, water, food, oxygen and spare parts. It is also a working research station requiring specific equipment and the transport of experiment materials from and to the Earth.
The U.S. Space Shuttle was the main vehicle for delivering supplies to the station because of its large cargo capacity. Following the shuttle's last flight to the station, in July 2011, only the smaller Russian Progress, European ATV and Japanese HTV craft were available for station supply missions. None of these vehicles are designed to return to Earth. After the completion of their missions they are deliberately destroyed.
NASA therefore looked to the U.S. private sector to build commercial "re-supply" spacecraft and launchers to increase the capacity to supply the station. To date two companies, SpaceX and Orbital ATK have provided craft which have successfully flown supplies the station. SpaceX has also successfully returned a capsule to Earth. NASA is now looking for a commercial vehicle to carry crew to and from the station while it is developing new vehicles.
Although all missions carried some supplies, the table below summarizes dedicated supply missions only and excludes the component and crew missions covered in the sections above.
The table below lists the types of spacecraft and launchers used to build, operate and maintain the Mir space station.
| Spacecraft | Launcher | Type | No. | Spacecraft Notes | Launcher Notes |
| Modules | Proton-K | Components | 6 | Core, Kvant-1, Kvant-2, Kristall, Spectr, Priroda. | - |
| Soyuz T-15 | Soyuz-U2 | Crew | 1 | Expedition EO-1. Only Soyuz T used with Mir. | - |
| Soyuz TM-1 | Soyuz-U2 | Test | 1 | Soyuz TM-1 un-crewed test flight. First Soyuz TM flight. | - |
| Soyuz TM-2 to TM-22 | Soyuz-U2 | Crew | 19 | Expeditions EO-2 to EO-20 and visitors. First Soyuz TM crewed flight. | - |
| Soyuz TM-23 to TM-30 | Soyuz-U | Crew | 8 | Expeditions EO-21 to EO-28 and visitors. | Soyuz-U2 upgraded to Soyuz-U |
| Progress 25 to 42 | Soyuz-U2 | Cargo | 18 | - | - |
| Progress M-1 to M-18 | Soyuz-U2 | Cargo | 18 | Progress upgraded to Progress M. Carried re-entry capsules VBK-Raduga 1 to 7. | - |
| Progress M-19 to M-43 | Soyuz-U | Cargo | 25 | Carried re-entry capsules VBK-Raduga 8 to 10. | Soyuz-U2 upgraded to Soyuz-U |
| Progress M1-1 to M1-2 | Soyuz-U | Cargo | 2 | Progress M upgraded to Progress M1. | - |
| Progress M1-5 | Soyuz-U | Tug | 1 | Progress used to de-orbit Mir. | - |
| Space Shuttle | Shuttle | Component | 1 | STS-74. Docking Module. | Shuttle uses its own engines and rocket boosters for launch. |
| Space Shuttle | Shuttle | Crew | 8 | STS-71, 76, 79, 81, 84, 86, 89, 91. Expedition EO-19 and additional crew. | Shuttle uses its own engines and rocket boosters for launch. |