TOS - 1969 Credit - © Mark Wade

By 1969 the giant OS-1 space station had evolved to this configuration. Although pursued at least to the mock-up stage, all plans for orbiting the OS-1 had to be constantly deferred until the N1 booster proved itself. The termination of the N1 launch vehicle program ended any possibility of launching the station.

By 1969 the OS-1 had evolved to this configuration, as described in the official RKK history. In 1991 engineers from Energia and other design bureaus taught a course on "Russian Manned Space" at MIT. Among them was Dr. Vladimir Karrask, the first chief designer for the UR-500 (Proton), who told of a shroud he designed for the N-1. The shroud was cylindrical - 6 m diameter x 30 m long - with a very "Proton-like" blunt conical top. He indicated that it had flown on the N-1. Another engineer, S. K. Shaevich, stated that flight hardware (including a backup) was ready for the N-1 flights. There were those who believe that the last two N-1 flights had the Karrask shroud, and possibly the OS-1 station, mounted on them. It was not known if any OS-1 stations actually reached any stage of completion. All plans for the OS-1 had to be constantly deferred until the N1 booster proved itself. This did not prevent the design team from undertaking an even more grandiose study - the MKBS - in which OS-1 derived modules would form mere subunits of a huge space complex. At any rate the termination of the N-1 launch vehicle program ended any possibility of launching the station - unless it was the same as the Mir 2 jumbo space station that was planned for launch by the Energia booster in the 1990's.

Crew Size: 6. Length: 25.00 m (82.00 ft). Maximum Diameter: 6.00 m (19.60 ft). Habitable Volume: 510.00 m3. Mass: 75,000 kg (165,000 lb). Electrical System: 6 solar panels totalling 110 sq m. Associated Launch Vehicle: N1.

• 1967 February 14 - Fairing for OS space station authorised. - Launch Vehicle: N1.

  Ministry of General Machine Building (MOM) Decree 'On construction of the N1 payload fairing by the Khrunichev Plant' was issued.

• Siddiqi, Asif A, The Soviet Space Race With Apollo, University Press of Florida, 2003. ISBN: 0813026288. The definitive history of the Soviet manned space program in the 1960's to the early 1970's. Originally published as the the latter part of 'Challenge to Apollo' by NASA in 2000 as NASA SP-2000-4408. More at amazon.com...

• Vick, Charles, Spaceflight, "Soviet Orbital Station-1 Designed in 1965", 1994, Volume 36, page 282.

• Semenov, Yu. P., S P Korolev Space Corporation Energia, RKK Energia, 1994. ISBN: 1896522815. Dual English/Russian language picture book of the history of the Energia Corporation. Many unique photos and drawings of Korolev's rockets and spacecraft. Republished by Apogee books in 2000. More at amazon.com...