, citizens of 38 countries have flown in space. For each nationality, the launch date of the first mission is listed. The list is based on the nationality of the person at the time of the spaceflight. Only 3 of the 38 "first flyers" have been women (Sharman in 1991, Ansari in 2006, Yi in 2008). Only three nations (Soviet Union, U.S., China) have launched their own manned spacecraft, with the Soviets/Russians and the American programs providing rides to other nations' astronauts. Twenty-four "first flights" occurred on Soviet or Russian flights while the United States carried thirteen.
. Countries indicated in
| # |
Country |
Name |
Flight |
Date (UTC) |
| 1960s |
| 1 |
Soviet Union |
Yuri GagarinYuri Alekseyevich Gagarin was a Soviet pilot and cosmonaut. He was the first human to journey into outer space, when his Vostok spacecraft completed an orbit of the Earth on April 12, 1961....
|
Vostok 1Vostok 1 was the first spaceflight in the Vostok program and the first human spaceflight in history. The Vostok 3KA spacecraft was launched on April 12, 1961. The flight took Yuri Gagarin, a cosmonaut from the Soviet Union, into space. The flight marked the first time that a human entered outer...
|
12 April 1961 |
| 2 |
United States |
Alan ShepardAlan Bartlett Shepard, Jr. was an American naval aviator, test pilot, flag officer, and NASA astronaut who in 1961 became the second person, and the first American, in space. This Mercury flight was designed to enter space, but not to achieve orbit... |
MR-3Mercury-Redstone 3 was the first manned space mission of the United States. Astronaut Alan Shepard piloted a 15-minute Project Mercury suborbital flight in the Freedom 7 spacecraft on May 5, 1961 to become the first American in space, three weeks after the Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin had carried...
|
5 May 1961 |
| 1970s |
| 3 |
Czechoslovakia |
Vladimír RemekVladimír Remek is the first Czechoslovak in space and the first cosmonaut from a country other than the Soviet Union or the United States. As of 2004, with the entry of the Czech Republic into the European Union Vladimír Remek is considered to be the first astronaut from the EU...
|
Soyuz 28-Backup crew:-Mission parameters:*Mass: *Perigee: *Apogee: *Inclination: 51.65°*Period: 88.95 minutes-Mission highlights:...
|
2 March 1978 |
| 4 |
Poland |
Mirosław Hermaszewski |
Soyuz 30Soyuz 30 was a 1978 manned Soviet space flight to the Salyut 6 space station. It was the sixth mission to and fifth successful docking at the orbiting facility...
|
27 June 1978 |
| 5 |
German Democratic Republic |
Sigmund JähnSigmund Werner Paul Jähn is a German pilot who became the first German to fly in space as part of the Soviet Union's Interkosmos program.-Biography:Jähn was born in Morgenröthe-Rautenkranz, in the Vogtland district of Saxony, Germany...
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Soyuz 31-Backup crew:-Mission parameters:*Mass: *Perigee: *Apogee: *Inclination: 51.64°*Period: 88.81 minutes-Mission highlights:Soyuz 31, the third Intercosmos flight, was launched 26 August 1978...
|
26 August 1978 |
| 6 |
Bulgaria |
Georgi Ivanov Major general Georgi Ivanov Kakalov is a retired Bulgarian military officer and the first Bulgarian cosmonaut. He was a member of the National Assembly of Bulgaria in 1990.-Early life and military career:...
|
Soyuz 33-Backup crew:-Mission parameters:*Mass: *Perigee: *Apogee: *Inclination: 51.63°*Period: 88.99 minutes-Mission highlights:...
|
10 April 1979 |
| 1980s |
| 7 |
Hungary |
Bertalan Farkas Bertalan Farkas was the first Hungarian cosmonaut and the first Esperantist in space. He is currently the president of Airlines Service and Trade...
|
Soyuz 36-Backup crew:-Mission parameters:*Mass: *Perigee: *Apogee: *Inclination: 51.62°*Period: 89.0 minutes-Mission highlights:...
|
26 May 1980 |
| 8 |
Vietnam |
Phạm Tuân |
Soyuz 37-Backup crew:-Mission parameters:*Mass: *Perigee: *Apogee: *Inclination: 51.61°*Period: 89.12 minutes-Mission highlights:...
|
23 July 1980 |
| 9 |
Cuba |
Arnaldo Tamayo Méndez Arnaldo Tamayo Méndez was the first Cuban citizen and the first person from a country in the Western Hemisphere other than the United States to travel into earth orbit...
|
Soyuz 38-Backup crew:-Mission parameters:*Mass: 6800 kg*Perigee: 199.7 km*Apogee: 273.5 km*Inclination: 51.63°*Period: 88.194 minutes-Mission highlights:...
|
18 September 1980 |
| 10 |
Mongolia |
Jügderdemidiin Gürragchaa |
Soyuz 39Soyuz 39 was a Soviet space flight.-Backup crew:-Mission parameters:*Mass: 6800 kg*Perigee: 197.5 km*Apogee: 282.8 km*Inclination: 51.6°*Period: 89.01 minutes-Mission highlights:...
|
22 March 1981 |
| 11 |
Romania |
Dumitru Prunariu Dumitru-Dorin Prunariu is a retired Romanian astronaut who flew aboard Soyuz 40.-Early life and career:Born on September 27, 1952 in Braşov, Romania, Prunariu graduated from the Physics and Mathematics high school in Braşov in 1971 and from the University POLITEHNICA of Bucharest in 1976,...
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Soyuz 40-Backup crew:-Mission parameters:*Mass: 6800 kg*Perigee: 198.1 km*Apogee: 287 km*Inclination: 51.6°*Period: 89.06 minutes-Mission highlights:...
|
14 May 1981 |
| 12 |
Early Modern France |
Jean-Loup ChrétienJean-Loup Jacques Marie Chrétien, is a French engineer, a retired Général de Brigade in the Armée de l'Air , and a former CNES astronaut. He flew on two Franco-Soviet space missions and a NASA Space Shuttle mission...
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Soyuz T-6-Backup crew:-Mission parameters:*Mass: 6850 kg*Perigee: 189 km*Apogee: 233 km*Inclination: 51.7°*Period: 88.7 minutes-Mission highlights:...
|
24 June 1982 |
| 13 |
West Germany |
Ulf MerboldDr. Ulf Dietrich Merbold is the first West German citizen and second German native to have flown in space. He is also the first member of the European Space Agency Astronaut Corps to participate in a spaceflight mission. He holds the distinction of being the first non-US citizen to reach orbit in...
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STS-9STS-9 was a NASA Space Shuttle mission which carried the first Spacelab module into orbit to conduct space-based scientific experiments. It was the sixth mission of the Space Shuttle Columbia, and was Columbia's last flight until STS-61-C in January 1986...
|
28 November 1983 |
| 14 |
India |
Rakesh SharmaWing commander Rakesh Sharma, AC, is a former Indian Air Force test pilot, and Cosmonaut aboard Soyuz T-11 as part of an Intercosmos Research Team...
|
Soyuz T-11-Backup crew:-Mission parameters:*Mass: 6850 kg*Perigee: 195 km*Apogee: 224 km*Inclination: 51.6°*Period: 88.7 minutes-Mission highlights:...
|
3 April 1984 |
| 15 |
Canada |
Marc GarneauJoseph Jean-Pierre Marc Garneau, CC CD FCASI MP is a Canadian retired military officer, former astronaut, engineer and politician.Garneau was the first Canadian in space taking part in three flights aboard NASA Space shuttles...
|
STS-41-GSTS 41-G was the 13th flight of NASA's Space Shuttle program and the sixth flight of Space Shuttle Challenger. Challenger launched on 5 October 1984, and conducted the second shuttle landing at Kennedy Space Center on 13 October...
|
5 October 1984 |
| 16 |
Saudi Arabia |
Sultan al-Saud |
STS-51-GSTS-51-G was the eighteenth flight of NASA's Space Shuttle program, and the fifth flight of Space Shuttle Discovery. The mission launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on 17 June 1985...
|
17 June 1985 |
| 17 |
Netherlands |
Wubbo OckelsProf. Dr. Wubbo Johannes Ockels is a Dutch physicist and a former ESA astronaut. In 1985 he participated in a flight on a space shuttle , making him the first Dutch citizen in space. He was not the first Dutch-born astronaut, as he is preceded by the naturalized American Lodewijk van den Berg, who...
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STS-61-ASTS-61-A was the 22nd mission of NASA's Space Shuttle program. It was a scientific Spacelab mission, funded and directed by West Germany – hence the non-NASA designation of D-1 . STS-61-A was the last successful mission of the Space Shuttle Challenger, which was destroyed during STS-51-L in 1986...
|
30 October 1985 |
| 18 |
Mexico |
Rodolfo Neri VelaRodolfo Neri Vela is a Mexican scientist and astronaut who flow aboard a NASA Space Shuttle mission in 1985. He is the first and only Mexican, and then the second Latin-American, to have traveled to space.-Personal :...
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STS-61-BSTS-61-B was NASA's 23rd Space Shuttle mission, and its second using Space Shuttle Atlantis. The shuttle was launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on 26 November 1985. During STS-61-B, the shuttle crew deployed three communications satellites, and tested techniques of constructing...
|
26 November 1985 |
| 19 |
Syria |
Muhammed Faris Muhammed Ahmed Faris is a Syrian military aviator. He was the first Syrian and the second Arab in space.Born in Aleppo, Syria, he was a pilot in the Syrian Air Force with the rank of a colonel...
|
Soyuz TM-3-Mission parameters:*Mass: 7100 kg*Perigee: 297 km*Apogee: 353 km*Inclination: 51.6°*Period: 91.0 minutes...
|
22 July 1987 |
| 20 |
Afghanistan |
Abdul Ahad Mohmand Abdul Ahad Momand is a former Afghan Air Force aviator who became the first Afghan in space when he spent nine days aboard the Mir space station in 1988 as a Intercosmos Research Cosmonaut...
|
Soyuz TM-6Dr. Valeri Polyakov remained behind on Mir with cosmonauts Musa Manarov and Vladimir Titov when Mohmand and Lyakhov returned to Earth in Soyuz TM-5....
|
29 August 1988 |
| 1990s |
| 21 |
Japan |
Toyohiro Akiyama is a Japanese TV journalist best known for his flight to the Mir space station aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft in 1990. Akiyama is the first person of Japanese descent to have flown in space. He was known as the "Space Journalist" in Japan....
|
Soyuz TM-11-Mission highlights:Soyuz TM-11 was launched the same day as STS-35.11th expedition to Mir. Toyohiro Akiyama was a reporter/space tourist for a Japanese television network....
|
2 December 1990 |
| 22 |
United Kingdom |
Helen SharmanHelen Patricia Sharman, OBE PhD , is a British chemist. She was the first Briton in space, visiting the Mir space station aboard Soyuz TM-12 in 1991....
|
Soyuz TM-12-Mission highlights:12th expedition to Mir. Included first Briton in space.The Derbents welcomed aboard Mir Anatoli Artsebarski, Sergei Krikalev , and British cosmonaut-researcher Helen Sharman, who was aboard as part of Project Juno, a cooperative venture partly sponsored by British private...
|
18 May 1991 |
| 23 |
Austria |
Franz Viehböck Franz Artur Viehböck is an Austrian electrical engineer, and was Austria's first astronaut. He visited the Mir space station in 1991 aboard Soyuz TM-13, returning aboard Soyuz TM-12 after spending just over a week in space....
|
Soyuz TM-13-Mission highlights:13th expedition to Mir. Included astronaut from Austria and cosmonaut from soon to be independent Kazakhstan.Soyuz-TM 13 carried Austrian cosmonaut-researcher Franz Viehböck and still Soviet-Kazakh cosmonaut-researcher Toktar Aubakirov. The flight was unusual for carrying no...
|
2 October 1991 |
| 24 |
Russia |
Aleksandr Kaleri, Aleksandr Viktorenko |
Soyuz TM-14-Mission highlights:14th expedition to Mir. Included astronaut from Germany.The First Russian Soyuz mission after the collapse of the Soviet Union....
|
17 March 1992 |
| 25 |
Belgium |
Dirk FrimoutDirk Dries David Damiaan, Viscount Frimout is an astrophysicist for the European Space Agency. He flew aboard NASA Space Shuttle mision STS-45 as a payload specialist, making him the first Belgian in space....
|
STS-45STS-45 was a 1992 spaceflight using Space Shuttle Atlantis.-Crew:-Mission parameters:*Mass:**Orbiter landing with payload: **Payload: *Perigee: *Apogee: *Inclination: 57.0°*Period: 90.3 min...
|
24 March 1992 |
| 26 |
Italy |
Franco MalerbaFranco Egidio Malerba is an Italian astronaut. He was the first citizen of Italy to travel to space....
|
STS-46STS-46 was a NASA space shuttle mission using orbiter Atlantis and launched on 31 July 1992 at 9:56:48 am EDT.-Crew:-Mission parameters:*Mass:**Orbiter landing with payload: **Payload: *Perigee: *Apogee:...
|
31 July 1992 |
| 27 |
Switzerland |
Claude NicollierClaude Nicollier is the first astronaut from Switzerland, and has flown on four Space Shuttle missions. His first spaceflight was in 1992, and his final spaceflight was in 1999. He took part in two servicing missions to the Hubble Space Telescope...
|
STS-46STS-46 was a NASA space shuttle mission using orbiter Atlantis and launched on 31 July 1992 at 9:56:48 am EDT.-Crew:-Mission parameters:*Mass:**Orbiter landing with payload: **Payload: *Perigee: *Apogee:...
|
31 July 1992 |
| 28 |
Ukraine |
Leonid Kadenyuk |
STS-87STS-87 was a Space Shuttle mission launched from KSC pad 39-B on 19 November 1997. It was the 88th flight of the Space Shuttle, and the 24th flight of Columbia...
|
19 November 1997 |
| 29 |
Spain |
Pedro DuquePedro Duque Duque is a Spanish astronaut and a veteran of two space missions.Duque earned a degree in Aeronautical Engineering from the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid in 1986. He worked for GMV and for the European Space Agency for six years before being selected as an astronaut candidate in...
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STS-95STS-95 was a Space Shuttle Discovery mission launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida on 29 October 1998. It was the 25th flight of Discovery and the 92nd mission flown since the start of the Space Shuttle program in April 1981. It was a highly publicized mission due to former Project Mercury...
|
29 October 1998 |
| 30 |
Slovakia |
Ivan Bella Ivan Bella is a Slovak Air Force officer who became the first Slovak citizen to fly in space...
|
Soyuz TM-29Soyuz TM-29 was a Russian manned spacecraft launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome aboard a Soyuz 11A511U rocket. It docked with Mir on February 22 at 05:36 GMT with Cosmonauts Viktor Afanasyev of Russia, Jean-Pierre Haigneré of France, and Ivan Bella of Slovakia aboard. Since two crew seats had...
|
20 February 1999 |
| 2000s |
| 31 |
South Africa |
Mark ShuttleworthMark Richard Shuttleworth is a South African entrepreneur who was the second self-funded space tourist. Shuttleworth founded Canonical Ltd. and as of 2010, provides leadership for the Ubuntu operating system...
|
Soyuz TM-34Soyuz TM-34 was the fourth Soyuz mission to the International Space Station . Soyuz TM-34 was launched by a Soyuz-U launch vehicle.-Crew:-Docking with ISS:*Docked to ISS: April 27, 2002, 07:55 UTC...
|
25 April 2002 |
| 32 |
Israel |
Ilan RamonIlan Ramon was a fighter pilot in the Israeli Air Force, and later the first Israeli astronaut....
|
STS-107-Mission parameters:*Mass:**Orbiter Liftoff: **Orbiter Landing: **Payload: *Perigee: *Apogee: *Inclination: 39.0°*Period: 90.1 min- Insignia :...
|
16 January 2003 |
| 33 |
Mainland China |
Yang LiweiYáng Lìwěi is a Chinese major general and military pilot and a CNSA astronaut. He was the first man sent into space by the Chinese space program and his mission, Shenzhou 5, made China the third country to independently send people into space.-Background:...
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Shenzhou 5Shenzhou 5 — was the first human spaceflight mission of the People's Republic of China , launched on October 15, 2003. The Shenzhou spacecraft was launched on a Long March 2F launch vehicle. There had been four previous flights of unmanned Shenzhou missions since 1999...
|
15 October 2003 |
| 34 |
Brazil |
Marcos PontesMarco Pontes is a Brazilian Air Force pilot. He became the first Brazilian and the first Lusophone to go into space when he launched to the International Space Station aboard Soyuz TMA-8 on March 30, 2006...
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Soyuz TMA-8-Back-up crew:-Docking with ISS:*Docked to ISS: April 1, 2006, 04:19 UTC *Undocked from ISS: September 28, 2006, 21:53 UTC -Mission highlights:29th manned flight to ISS...
|
30 March 2006 |
| 35 |
Iran |
Anousheh AnsariAnousheh Ansari is an engineer and the Iranian-American co-founder and chairman of Prodea Systems. Her previous business accomplishments include serving as co-founder and CEO of Telecom Technologies, Inc. . The Ansari family is also the title sponsor of the Ansari X Prize. On September 18, 2006,...
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Soyuz TMA-9-Crew notes:Daisuke Enomoto Was originally scheduled to be the spaceflight participant, but on on 21 August 2006, he was determined to be unfit for the flight due to medical reasons, and replaced by Anousheh Ansari, his back-up crew member.-Docking with ISS:...
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18 September 2006 |
| 36 |
Sweden |
Christer FuglesangDr. Arne Christer Fuglesang is a Swedish physicist and an ESA astronaut. He was first launched aboard the STS-116 Space Shuttle mission on December 10, 2006, at 01:47 GMT, making him the first Swedish citizen in space....
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STS-116-Crew notes:Originally this mission was to carry the Expedition 8 crew to the ISS. The original crew was to be:-Mission highlights:* The STS-116 mission delivered and attached the International Space Station's third port truss segment, the P5 truss....
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10 December 2006 |
| 37 |
Malaysia |
Sheikh Muszaphar ShukorSheikh Muszaphar Shukor is a Malaysian orthopaedic surgeon and was the first Malaysian to go into space. He was launched to the International Space Station aboard Soyuz TMA-11 with the Expedition 16 crew on October 10, 2007...
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Soyuz TMA-11Soyuz TMA-11 was a human spaceflight mission using a Soyuz-TMA spacecraft to transport personnel to and from the International Space Station . The mission began at 13:22 UTC on October 10, 2007 when the spacecraft was launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome by a Soyuz FG launch vehicle...
|
10 October 2007 |
| 38 |
South Korea |
Yi So-yeonYi So-yeon is a South Korean scientist and Ph.D. graduate of KAIST . On April 8, 2008, she became the first Korean and the second Asian woman to fly in space, after Chiaki Mukai.-Biography:Yi So-yeon was born to father Yi Gil-soo...
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Soyuz TMA-12Soyuz TMA-12 was a Soyuz mission to the International Space Station which was launched by a Soyuz FG rocket at 11:16 UTC on 8 April 2008. It docked to the Pirs module of the station on 10 April 2008. Landing occurred at 03:37 on 24 October...
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8 April 2008 |
The above list uses the nationality at the time of launch. Lists with differing criteria might include the following people: