# Timeline of space travel by nationality

Since the first human spaceflight by the Soviet Union, citizens of 48 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 launch. Only 7 of 48 countries have been represented by female "first flyers" (Helen Sharman for the United Kingdom in 1991, Anousheh Ansari for Iran in 2006, Yi So-yeon for South Korea in 2008, Sara Sabry for Egypt in 2022, and Keisha Schahaff and Anastatia Mayers for Antigua and Barbuda in 2023, Namira Salim for Pakistan in 2023 and Marina Vasilevskaya for Belarus in 2024). Only three nations (Soviet Union/Russia, U.S., China) have launched their own crewed spacecraft, with the Soviets/Russians and the American programs providing rides to other nations' astronauts. Twenty-eight "first flights" occurred on Soviet or Russian flights while the United States carried nineteen.

## Timeline

Note: All dates given are UTC. Countries indicated in bold have achieved independent human spaceflight capability.
| No. | Country | Name | Flight | Date (UTC) |
| 1960s |||||
| 1 | Soviet Union | Yuri Gagarin | Vostok 1 | 12 April 1961 |
| 2 | United States | Alan Shepard | MR-3 | 5 May 1961 |
| 1970s |||||
| 3 | Czechoslovakia | Vladimír Remek | Soyuz 28 | 2 March 1978 |
| 4 | Poland | Mirosław Hermaszewski | Soyuz 30 | 27 June 1978 |
| 5 | East Germany | Sigmund Jähn | Soyuz 31 | 26 August 1978 |
| 6 | Bulgaria | Georgi Ivanov | Soyuz 33 | 10 April 1979 |
| 1980s |||||
| 7 | Hungary | Bertalan Farkas | Soyuz 36 | 26 May 1980 |
| 8 | Vietnam | Phạm Tuân | Soyuz 37 | 23 July 1980 |
| 9 | Cuba | Arnaldo Tamayo Méndez | Soyuz 38 | 18 September 1980 |
| 10 | Mongolia | Jügderdemidiin Gürragchaa | Soyuz 39 | 22 March 1981 |
| 11 | Romania | Dumitru Prunariu | Soyuz 40 | 14 May 1981 |
| 12 | France | Jean-Loup Chrétien | Soyuz T-6 | 24 June 1982 |
| 13 | West Germany | Ulf Merbold | STS-9 | 28 November 1983 |
| 14 | India | Rakesh Sharma | Soyuz T-11 | 3 April 1984 |
| 15 | Canada | Marc Garneau | STS-41-G | 5 October 1984 |
| 16 | Saudi Arabia | Sultan al-Saud | STS-51-G | 17 June 1985 |
| 17 | Netherlands | Wubbo Ockels | STS-61-A | 30 October 1985 |
| 18 | Mexico | Rodolfo Neri Vela | STS-61-B | 26 November 1985 |
| 19 | Syria | Muhammed Faris | Soyuz TM-3 | 22 July 1987 |
| 20 | Afghanistan | Abdul Ahad Momand | Soyuz TM-6 | 29 August 1988 |
| 1990s |||||
| 21 | Japan | Toyohiro Akiyama | Soyuz TM-11 | 2 December 1990 |
| 22 | United Kingdom | Helen Sharman | Soyuz TM-12 | 18 May 1991 |
| 23 | Austria | Franz Viehböck | Soyuz TM-13 | 2 October 1991 |
| 24 | Russia | Aleksandr Kaleri Aleksandr Viktorenko | Soyuz TM-14 | 17 March 1992 |
| 25 | Belgium | Dirk Frimout | STS-45 | 24 March 1992 |
| 26 | Italy | Franco Malerba | STS-46 | 31 July 1992 |
| 27 | Switzerland | Claude Nicollier | STS-46 | 31 July 1992 |
| 28 | Ukraine | Leonid Kadenyuk | STS-87 | 19 November 1997 |
| 29 | Spain | Pedro Duque | STS-95 | 29 October 1998 |
| 30 | Slovakia | Ivan Bella | Soyuz TM-29 | 20 February 1999 |
| 2000s |||||
| 31 | South Africa | Mark Shuttleworth | Soyuz TM-34 | 25 April 2002 |
| 32 | Israel | Ilan Ramon | STS-107 | 16 January 2003 |
| 33 | China | Yang Liwei | Shenzhou 5 | 15 October 2003 |
| 34 | Brazil | Marcos Pontes | Soyuz TMA-8 | 30 March 2006 |
| 35 | Iran | Anousheh Ansari | Soyuz TMA-9 | 18 September 2006 |
| 36 | Sweden | Christer Fuglesang | STS-116 | 10 December 2006 |
| 37 | Malaysia | Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor | Soyuz TMA-11 | 10 October 2007 |
| 38 | South Korea | Yi So-yeon | Soyuz TMA-12 | 8 April 2008 |
| 2010s |||||
| 39 | Denmark | Andreas Mogensen | Soyuz TMA-18M | 2 September 2015 |
| 40 | Kazakhstan | Aidyn Aimbetov | Soyuz TMA-18M | 2 September 2015 |
| 41 | United Arab Emirates | Hazza Al Mansouri | Soyuz MS-15 | 25 September 2019 |
| 2020s |||||
| 42 | Australia | Chris Boshuizen | Blue Origin NS-18 | 13 October 2021 |
| 43 | Portugal | Mário Ferreira | Blue Origin NS-22 | 4 August 2022 |
| 44 | Egypt | Sara Sabry | Blue Origin NS-22 | 4 August 2022 |
| 45 | Antigua and Barbuda | Keisha Schahaff Anastatia Mayers | Galactic 02 | 10 August 2023 |
| 46 | Pakistan | Namira Salim | Galactic 04 | 6 October 2023 |
| 47 | Turkey | Alper Gezeravcı | Axiom Mission 3 | 18 January 2024 |
| 48 | Belarus | Marina Vasilevskaya | Soyuz MS-25 | 23 March 2024 |