Pirs

Pirs (Пирс), meaning "pier" in Russian, was a Russian docking compartment on the International Space Station. It served as a docking port and airlock, enabling spacecraft to connect to the station and providing an entry and exit point for spacewalks and related activities.

Mounted to the Zvezda service module, Pirs provided an additional docking port for Soyuz and Progress spacecraft and housed an airlock for cosmonauts to conduct spacewalks. It also offered storage space and equipment for EVA operations, helping to facilitate crew transfers and assembly tasks during the ISS programme.

Pirs was built by RSC Energia and entered service in 2001 as part of the ISS expansion. Over its operational life, it supported visiting spacecraft and served as a convenient interface for EVA preparations and docking operations, contributing to the ongoing assembly and maintenance of the space station.

In 2021, Pirs was decommissioned to clear the docking port for the Nauka Multipurpose Laboratory Module. It was detached in a controlled procedure and subsequently deorbited, burning up in Earth's atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean. The removal marked a transition in the Russian segment’s docking capabilities and paved the way for Nauka’s integration with the station.