Bygone Space Station is a term used to refer to two former space stations, Skylab and Mir. Skylab was the first American space station, launched in 1973 and operated until 1979. It was the only space station the United States had until the launch of the International Space Station in 1998. Mir was the first modular space station, launched by the Soviet Union in 1986 and operated until 2001. Both Skylab and Mir were decommissioned and are no longer in operation.