Whilst launching of astronauts is always in the news, little is known about logistics support that must be in place for the successful spaceflight to be possible. This paper describes some details of the Intelligent Logistics Management System, conceived by the authors, and developed by two sister companies, one in the UK and the other in Russia, which supports Russian contribution to the international space exploration. The System is designed as a complex adaptive network of interacting real-time schedulers, believed to be the first of its kind in the world. At present, five real-time schedulers cooperate or compete with each other, depending on the context. They schedule flights, cargo flow, storage allocation, scientific experiments, and resource allocation within the international space station (ISS). Further, schedulers can be developed and easily connected to the network, as the need arises. When two cargo vehicles were lost in 2015, the Logistics Management System rapidly re-scheduled deliveries, ensuring that astronauts were not left short of food, water, healthcare material, and laboratory equipment for space exploration. The System is based on multi-agent technology and exhibits Emergent Intelligence.

35 years ago, in March 1986, a unique flight of the Soyuz T-15 transport manned vehicle was performed, including in its program the flight of the crew from one orbital station to another (from the Mir station to the Salyut-7 station) and back. In the 60-year history of manned space exploration, such a double flight continues to be the only one of its kind. The article considers the circumstances that developed at the time of the Mir station launch into orbit — the first station of the 3rd generation. The approaches adopted during the development of the ballistics profile and the operational changes required during its implementation are described in detail. In conclusion, the actual fuel consumption of all spacecraft involved in this scheme is presented. It is assumed that the experience gained during the implementation of flights can be used in future promising manned missions, both in near-Earth orbit and in the implementation of the future Lunar program. Key words: orbital station Salyut, orbital station Mir, manned vehicle, orbital flights, prospective human missions.

The article briefly discusses the key achievements of the enterprise over 75 years from the formation of OKB-1 headed by S.P. Korolev for producing intercontinental range missiles to the current status of RSC Energia being the country’s and world leader in manned space flight. The developed intercontinental missiles R-7 and a closed-loop oxygen-hydrocarbon liquid-propellant rocket engine provided the basis for developing integrated launch vehicles which were used to launch the world’s first Earth satellite, the first cosmonaut on the Earth, automatic interplanetary stations to the Moon, Venus, Mars. The diversification of the enterprise impeded S.P. Korolev to concentrate on manned space flights, and he initiated the transfer of development and manufacture of combat missiles to V.P. Makeev DB, integrated launch vehicles to TsSKB Progress, communication and other satellites to M.F. Reshetnev ISS, lunar and interplanetary stations to S.A. Lavochkin NPO. In the 1980s under the guidance of V.P. Glushko the Energia super-heavy launch vehicle and Energia–Buran system in unmanned configuration were developed and successfully launched on the first try. The Salyut manned single-module orbital stations, Mir multifunctional multi-module space laboratory and successfully operating upgraded manned transportation (Soyuz) and logistics (Progress) spacecraft were developed. In the hard times of 1990s, RSC Energia under the guidance of Yu.P. Semenov saved the national cosmonautics through commercial research performed on the Mir station. At present, RSC Energia together with Khrunichev Space Center is completing the stage of ground tests of a multipurpose laboratory module and is manufacturing modules for a promising near-Earth manned station.

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The article briefly discusses the key achievements of the enterprise over 75 years from the formation of OKB-1 headed by S.P. Korolev for producing intercontinental range missiles to the current status of RSC Energia being the country’s and world leader in manned space flight. The developed intercontinental missiles R-7 and a closed-loop oxygen-hydrocarbon liquid-propellant rocket engine provided the basis for developing integrated launch vehicles which were used to launch the world's first Earth satellite, the first cosmonaut on the Earth, automatic interplanetary stations to the Moon, Venus, Mars. The diversification of the enterprise impeded S.P. Korolev to concentrate on manned space flights, and he initiated the transfer of development and manufacture of combat missiles to Makeyev DB, integrated launch vehicles to TsSKB Progress, communication and other satellites to M.F. Reshetnev ISS, lunar and interplanetary stations to S.A.Lavochkin NPO. In the 1980s under the guidance of V.P. Glushko the Energia super-heavy launch vehicle and Energia-Buran system in unmanned configuration were developed and successfully launched on the first try. The Salyut manned single-module orbital stations, Mir multifunctional multi-module space laboratory and successfully operating upgraded manned transportation (Soyuz) and logistics (Progress) spacecraft were developed. In the hard times of 1990s, RSC Energia under the guidance of Yu.P. Semenov saved the national cosmonautics through commercial research performed on the Mir station. At present, by launching three additional modules RSC Energia is completing assembly and integration of the Russian Segment into the International Space Station. Keywords. ОKB-1, S.P.Korolev RSC Energia, V.P. Glushko, Yu.S. Semenov, integrated launch vehicle, orbital station, crew transportation spacecraft, logistics transportation spacecraft, International Space Station.