Launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome; landing 160 km southeast of Dzheskaskan. Aleksandr Alexandrov became the second cosmonaut from Bulgaria.

Following a two day solo flight Soyuz TM-5 docked with the MIR-Kvant-Soyuz TM-4 complex on June 09, 1988. The crew conducted joint scientific work with the third resident crew.

46 scientific experiments were performed, including astrophysical and astronomical research using the Rozhen astronomical experiment, Earth observation (coast of the Black Sea region), materials sciences, medicine and biology. Photos and spectral analysis were taken from the Bulgarian territory, standard, when foreign cosmonauts are onboard the MIR. They also worked with the Kristallisator experiment.

On September 05, 1988 cosmonauts Vladimir Lyakhov and Abdul Mohmand undocked from MIR. They jettisoned the orbital module and made ready for deorbit burn to return to Earth. During descent, the spacecraft experienced a computer software problem combined with a sensor problem. This caused their landing to be delayed by a full day. The descent module, where they spent this 24 hour period, had no sanitary facilities. They would not have been able to redock with MIR because they had discarded the docking system along with the orbital module. Reentry occurred as normal on September 07, 1988. Following this incident, the Soviets decided that on future missions, they would retain the orbital module until after deorbit burn, as they had done on the Soyuz ferry flights