He flew five missions to the Mir space station between 1988 and 1997, including 179 days on Mir from February to August 1990, and a launch aboard the space shuttle Atlantis in June 1995. He made a record 16 space walks, accumulating over 82 hours of extravehicular activity experience. Solovyov was selected as a cosmonaut in 1976, and retired in 1999.