At least 746 people from 52 countries have traveled to space, including both career astronauts and paying tourists. This milestone is marked on October 4, which coincides with the anniversary of the Soviet Union's launch of Sputnik 1, the first satellite to orbit Earth, in 1957, initiating the Space Age and the subsequent space race with the United States.
On October 10, 1967, the Outer Space Treaty came into effect, establishing guidelines for the peaceful exploration of space. The United Nations began observing World Space Week from October 4 to 10 in 1999 to highlight the benefits of space technology for humanity, with various events held globally, including stargazing nights and educational talks.
Currently, over 80 countries have launched satellites into orbit, and individuals from more than 50 of these countries have traveled to space. A visual explainer by Al Jazeera details which countries have sent people to space, the number of female space travelers, and future plans for human spaceflight.
Yuri Gagarin, a Soviet astronaut, became the first human in space on April 12, 1961, aboard the Vostok 1 spacecraft, completing one orbit of Earth at approximately 27,400 km/h (17,025 mph) during a 108-minute flight. This mission confirmed that humans could survive launch, weightlessness, and re-entry, marking a significant achievement for the Soviet Union in the Cold War Space Race.
The Outer Space Treaty, signed by the US, the UK, and the Soviet Union, established that space should be explored and used for peaceful purposes and that no nation could claim it as territory. Less than two years later, NASA's Apollo 11 mission successfully landed the first humans on the moon, with Neil Armstrong becoming the first person to walk on its surface on July 20, 1969.
The definition of where space begins varies; most international organizations use the Karman line, set at 100 km (62 miles) above Earth, while the US military and NASA consider space to begin at 80 km (50 miles). Using the Karman line as a reference, 746 individuals from 52 countries have traveled to space, including both professional astronauts and tourists. Some individuals hold dual nationality, and some flew for countries that no longer exist, such as the Soviet Union.
The United States has sent 369 people to space, while the Soviet Union and Russia combined have sent 138. China, the third nation to independently launch people into space, has sent 29 individuals. The demographic of space travelers remains predominantly male, with only 112 women, or 15 percent, among the 746 space travelers. Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman in space in June 1963, followed by Sally Ride in June 1983. The proportion of women in space is increasing, particularly due to commercial flights, with over half of the women who have flown since 2020 being paying passengers on Blue Origin's suborbital rocket.
Most space travelers were in their 30s or 40s during their first flight, accounting for 85 percent of the total, with a median age of 40. The youngest traveler, Oliver Daemen, was 18 in 2021, while the oldest, Ed Dwight, was 90 years and eight months old when he flew in 2024.
Upcoming missions include Artemis II in April 2026, which will fly around the moon and set a new distance record from Earth, and Artemis III in 2027, which will test docking with lunar landers. NASA aims for Artemis IV in 2028 to land astronauts near the moon's south pole, marking the first crewed landing since 1972. India plans its first crewed Gaganyaan flight in 2027, making it the fourth country to launch people on its own rocket, while China aims to land astronauts on the moon around 2030.