List of astronauts by year of selection

This is a list of astronauts by year of selection: people selected to train for a human spaceflight program to command, pilot, or serve as a crew member of a spacecraft. Until recently, astronauts were sponsored and trained exclusively by governments, either by the military or by civilian space agencies. However, with the advent of suborbital flight starting with privately funded SpaceShipOne in 2004, a new category of astronaut was created: the commercial astronaut.
While the term astronaut is sometimes applied to anyone who trains for travels into space—including scientists, politicians, journalists, and tourists—this article lists only professional astronauts, those who have been selected to train as a profession. This includes national space programs and private industry programs which train and/or hire their own professional astronauts.
More than 500 people have trained as astronauts. A list of everyone who has flown in space can be found at List of space travelers by name.
June 25 – Man in Space Soonest (USA)
April 9 – NASA Group 1 – Mercury Seven (USA)
March 7 – Air Force Group 1 (USSR)
ru:Первый отряд космонавтов СССР
April – Dyna–Soar Group 1 (USA)
March 12 – Female Group (USSR)
ru:Женская группа космонавтов ВВС (1962)
September 17 – NASA Group 2 – The Next Nine, aka The Nifty Nine, The New Nine (USA)
September 19 – Dyna-Soar Group 2 (USA)
January 10 – Air Force Group 2 (USSR)
ru:2-й набор космонавтов ЦПК ВВС (1963)
October 17, 1963 – NASA Group 3 – The Fourteen (USA)
January 25 – Air Force Group 2 Supplemental (USSR)
May 26 – Voskhod Group – Medical Group 1 (USSR)
ru:Набор космонавтов для полёта на корабле «Восход» (1964)
June 11 – Civilian Specialist Group 1 (USSR)
June 1 – Journalist Group 1 (USSR)
June 1 – Medical Group 2 (USSR)
June 28 – NASA Group 4 – The Scientists (USA)
October 28 – Air Force Group 3 (USSR)
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November – USAF MOL Group 1 (USA)
April 4 – NASA Group 5 (USA)
May 23 – Civilian Specialist Group 2 (USSR)
June 30 – USAF MOL Group 2 (USA)
September – Military Cosmonaut Group (USSR)
1966–67 – Military Cosmonaut Group (USSR)
January 31 – Civilian Specialist Group 2 Supplemental (USSR)
February – Soviet crewed lunar programs cosmonauts in two training groups (USSR)
May 7 – Air Force Group 4 (USSR)
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May 22 – Academy of Sciences Group (USSR)
June – USAF MOL Group 3 (USA)
October 4 – NASA Group 6 – XS-11 (The Excess Eleven) (USA)
May 27 – Civilian Specialist Group 3 (USSR)
August 14 – NASA Group 7 (USA)
September 10 – Civilian Engineer Group (USSR)
April 27 – Air Force Group 5 (USSR)
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February 25 – 1971 Scientific Group (USSR)
May – Shuguang Group 1970 (China)
March 22 – Civilian Specialist Group 4 (USSR)
March 22 – Medical Group 3 – USSR
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March 27 – Civilian Specialist Group 5 (USSR)
January 1 – Physician Group (USSR)
August 23 – Air Force Group 6 – Space shuttle Buran crew (USSR)
ru:6-й набор космонавтов ЦПК ВВС (1976)
Protchenko was removed from the squad for health reasons, Ivanov was killed in the crash of a MiG-27 during test pilot training and Kadenyuk was removed from the squad over marital issues (but accepted back into the Cosmonaut Detachment in 1988). Vasyutin concealed a medical condition from doctors that resulted in his falling ill during the Soyuz T-14/ Salyut 7 EO-4 flight causing the premature termination of the mission 4 months early. This resulted in more stringent cosmonaut medical checks which Moskalenko and Saley failed.
November 25 – 1976 Intercosmos Group (USSR)
IMBD (USSR)
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July 12 – The first group of test pilots for Buran – Gromov Flight Research Institute group (USSR)
January 16 – NASA Group 8 – TFNG Thirty-Five New Guys (USA)
March 1 – 1978 Intercosmos Group (USSR)
May 1 – Spacelab Payload Specialists Group 1 (ESA)
Air Force Group 7 (USSR)
ru:7-й набор космонавтов ЦПК ВВС (1978)
August – USAF Manned Spaceflight Engineer Program – Group 1 (USA)
April 1 – 1979 Intercosmos Group (USSR)
May 29 – NASA Group 9 (USA)
July 30 – LII–1/IMBP–3/MAP/NPOE-5/AN–2 Cosmonaut Group (Soviet Union)
1980 – CNES Group 1 (France)
August – USAF Manned Spaceflight Engineer Program (Group 2)
September 11 – 1982 Intercosmos Group (India)
December 1 – Spacelab Payload Specialists Group (Germany)
April 25 – The second group of test pilots for the project "Buran" – Gromov Flight Research Institute group) (USSR)
December – NRC Group (Canada)
February 15 – NPOE–6 Cosmonaut Group (Soviet Union)
May 23 – NASA Group 10 – The Maggots (USA)
June 12 – The third group of test pilots for the project "Buran" – Gromov Flight Research Institute group (USSR)
Victor Zabolotski.
April – Saudi Arabia
May – ISRO Insat Group (India)
June (Mexico)
June 4 – NASA Group 11 (USA)
July 19 – NASA Teacher in Space Program (USA)
August 1 – 1985 NASDA Group (Japan)
August – USAF Manned Spaceflight Engineer Program – Group 3 (USA)
September 2 – GKNII–2/NPOE–7 Cosmonaut Group (USSR)
September 18 – CNES Group 2 (France)
September 30 – 1985 Intercosmos Group (Syria)
October – Indonesian Palapa Group (Indonesia)
December 27 – ATLAS–1 (ESA)
IMBD (USSR)
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January 2 – The fourth group of test pilots for the project "Buran" – Gromov Flight Research Institute group (USSR)
Sergey Tresvyatski and Yuri Schaeffer.
January 5 – Shipka Group (Bulgaria)
March 26 – TsPK–8/NPOE-8 Cosmonaut Group (Soviet Union)
ru:8-й набор космонавтов ЦПК ВВС (1987)
June 5 – NASA Group 12 – The GAFFers (USA)
August 3 – 1987 German Group
February 12 – OS "Mir" Group (Afghanistan)
Air Force Group 9 (USSR)
ru:9-й набор космонавтов ЦПК ВВС (1988)
January 25 – IMBP–5/GKNII–3/NPOE–9/TsPK–10 Cosmonaut Group (Soviet Union)
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22 March – The last group of test pilots for the Buran project – Gromov Flight Research Institute group) (USSR)
May 23 – 1989 Italian Group
September 29 – ATLAS Payload Specialists (NASA)
November 25 – Project Juno (UK-Soviet Union)
January 17 – NASA Group 13 – The Hairballs (USA)
February – CNES Group 3 (France)
May 11 – TsPK–11 Cosmonaut Group (Soviet Union)
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October 8 – 1990 German Group
March 3 – NPOE-10 Cosmonaut Group (Russia)
March 31 – NASA Group 14 – The Hogs (USA)
April – 1992 NASDA Group (Japan)
June – CSA Group 2 (Canada)
May 15 – 1992 ESA Group (ESA)
April 1 – NPOE–11 Cosmonaut Group (Russia)
December 12 – NASA Group 15 – The Flying Escargot (USA)
February 9 – MKS/RKKE–12 Cosmonaut Group (Russia)
March 26 – MKS supplemental cosmonaut group (Russia)
May 1 – NASA Group 16 – The Sardines (USA)
June – NASDA Group (Japan)
October – China Group 1996 (China)
November – Shuttle-97 Group (Ukraine)
April (?) – Shuttle Group (Israel)
July 28 – TsPK–12/RKKE-13 Cosmonaut Group (Russia)
January – Chinese Group 1 (China)
February 24 – RKKE-14 Cosmonaut Group (Russia)
March 2 – OS "Mir" Stefanik Group (Slovakia)
June 4 – NASA Group 17 – The Penguins (USA)
October 7 – 1998 ESA Group (ESA)
February – 1999 NASDA Group (Japan)
1 November – 1999 ESA Group (Europe)
July 26 – NASA Group 18 – The Bugs (USA)
May 23 – TsPK-13/RKKE-15/IMBP-6 Cosmonaut Group (Russia)
Kazakhstan – Group 1
September 11 – SpaceShipOne (Commercial Astronauts) (USA)
May 6 – NASA Group 19 – The Peacocks (USA)
March 30 – Virgin Galactic Astronaut Pilots Group (Commercial Astronauts) (UK)
September 4 – Angkasawan Group (Malaysia)
October 11 – TsPK-14/RKKE-16 Cosmonaut Group (Russia)
December 25 – Korean Astronaut Program Group
July – Virgin Galactic Astronaut Pilots Group (Commercial Astronauts) (UK)
February 25 – JAXA Group (Japan)
May 13 – CSA Group (Canada)
May 20 – ESA Group – The Shenanigans (ESA)
June 29 – NASA Group 20 – Chumps (USA)
September 8 – JAXA Group (Japan)
March – Chinese Group 2 (China)
April 12 – Association of Spaceflight Professionals – Group 1
June 7 – Association of Spaceflight Professionals – Group 2 (Commercial Astronauts)
October 12 – TsPK-15/RKKE-17/RKKE-18 Cosmonaut Group (Russia)
January–February – Enrolled in a United squad of Roscosmos astronauts (Russia)
From 1 January 2011 at the Research Institute of the Y. A. Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center is a single detachment of the Russian Space Agency astronauts, which in 2015 consisted of 38 people. The next set of candidates was announced at the beginning of 2016, then postponed until 2017. In September 2016, the unit counted 31 astronauts.
February 28 – Association of Spaceflight Professionals – Group 3
October 26 – Virgin Galactic Astronaut Pilots Group (Commercial Astronauts) (UK)
February – Enrolled in a United squad of Roscosmos cosmonauts (Russia)
October 30 – 2012 Cosmonaut Group (Russia)
May 8 Virgin Galactic Astronaut Pilots Group (Commercial Astronauts) (UK)
June 3 – Association of Spaceflight Professionals – Group 4
June 17 – NASA Group 21 – 8-Balls (US)
July 24 – Virgin Galactic Astronaut Pilots Group (Commercial Astronauts) (UK)
August 14 – Individual set into a United detachment of Roscosmos astronauts (Russia)
January 23 – Virgin Galactic Astronaut Pilots Group (Commercial Astronauts) (UK)
July – ESA Astronaut Corps
Copenhagen Suborbitals (Commercial Astronauts) (Denmark)
June 7 – NASA Group 22 – The Turtles (USA)
July 1 – 2017 CSA Group (Canada)
April 19 – 2017 Die Astronautin Selection (Germany)
August 10 – 2018 Cosmonaut Group (Russia)
September 3 – Emirati Astronaut Group (United Arab Emirates)
December – 1st Vyomnaut Group (India)
October 8 – Chinese Group 3 (China)
January 27 – 2021 Cosmonaut Group (Russia)
March 30 – Inspiration4 (USA)
April 10 – Emirati Astronaut Group 2 (United Arab Emirates)
December 6 – NASA Group 23 – The Flies (USA)
March 30 – Polaris program Group 1 (USA)
October 2 – Chinese Group 4 (China)
November 23 – 2022 ESA Astronaut Group – The Hoppers
February 12 – Saudi Astronaut Group 2 (Saudi Arabia)
March 8 – Australian Astronaut Group 1 (Australia)
April – Turkish Astronaut (Group 1)
April/July – 2023 JAXA Group (Japan)
June – Others
May 27 – HUNOR 1 (Hungary)
August 26 – 2024 Cosmonaut Group (Russia)
The space market exceeds $330 billion today. Current estimates show the number growing to nearly $3 trillion over the next three decades. Human spaceflight is one of the sectors positioned for greatest growth. Commercial astronauts are expected to fill the gap in this transition.
Ansari X Prize
The first commercial astronauts were selected by contenders for the Ansari X PRIZE, the first nongovernmental reusable crewed spacecraft, in 2004. Among them include Starchaser Industries directors Steve Bennett (United Kingdom) and Matt Shewbridge; former NASA astronauts John Bennett Herrington (Pioneer Rocketplane), Richard Searfoss and pilot Dick Rutan (XCOR Aerospace); Canadian engineer Brian Feeney (da Vinci Project); and veteran Wally Funk from Mercury 13 (Interorbital Systems).
Boeing hired former NASA astronaut Chris Ferguson to join the Space Exploration Team. Candidates for Boeing's astronaut corps include former NASA astronauts, commercial scientist astronauts and test pilots who have never flown in space.
SpaceX has employed former NASA astronauts, but did not select any SpaceX employees to fly its commercial vehicles to the International Space Station.
SpaceX's former medical director at SpaceX, Anil Menon, is now a NASA astronaut selected in 2021 as a member of NASA Astronaut Group 23.
SpaceX employees Anna Menon (Lead Space Operations Engineer) and Sarah Gillis (Senior Space Operations Engineer), were selected to participate in the private Polaris Dawn mission as a part of Polaris Program.
The world's first commercial astronaut corps, the Association of Spaceflight Professionals received funding for a series of crewed spaceflight missions through the NASA Flight Opportunities Program in March 2012.
Several million dollars have been allocated for detailed spectroscopic analysis of high-altitude noctilucent cloud formations on suborbital flights using rapidly reusable, task-and-deploy spaceplanes.
The organization's commercial astronauts go through a selection process modeled after the NASA Astronaut Corps, which involves NASA astronauts. Some of its members serve as astronaut trainers themselves; some have interviewed as finalists in national space agency astronaut candidate selection campaigns. Yi So-yeon, who completed an orbital mission to the International Space Station, is a member of the organization.
Scaled Composites and Virgin Galactic astronauts include Michael Alsbury (killed in the 2014 Virgin Galactic crash), Rob Bendall (Canada), Richard Branson, Peter Kalogiannis, Niki Lauda (Austria), Brian Maisler, Clint Nichols, Wes Persall, Burt Rutan, Peter Seiffert, Peter Siebold, Mark Stucky, and Dave Mackay.
The Teachers in Space program began in 2005. In 2012, the United States Rocket Academy announced that the program was expanding to include a broader range of participants, renaming the initiative Citizens in Space. For its first phase, Citizens in Space selected and trained ten citizen astronaut candidates to fly as payload operators, including four astronaut candidates already in training (Maureen Adams, Steve Heck, Michael Johnson, and Edward Wright). Informal educator and aerospace historian Gregory Kennedy was among those listed.
Copenhagen Suborbitals (2008, Denmark) seeks to make Denmark the fourth nation to launch humans above the Kármán line.
Mars One was a private initiative with claims to establish a permanent human colony on Mars by 2023. The project was led by Dutch entrepreneur Bas Lansdorp, who announced plans for the Mars One mission in May 2012.
A Mars One astronaut selection announcement was made on April 19, 2013, and started its search on April 22, 2013. By August 2013, Mars One had more than 200,000 applicants from around the world. Round Two selection results were declared on December 30, 2013, wherein a total of 1058 applicants from 107 countries were selected.
Mars One received a variety of criticism relating to medical, technical and financial feasibility. Unverified rumors claimed that Mars One was a scam designed to take as much money as possible from donors, including those participating as contestants.
In February 2019, it was reported that Mars One had declared bankruptcy in a Swiss court on January 15, 2019, and was permanently dissolved as a company.
Inspiration Mars Foundation, an American nonprofit founded by Dennis Tito, aimed to launch a human mission to flyby Mars in January 2018, or, as the 2018 date was missed, in 2021. Flight candidates included husband and wife travel duo Jane Poynter and Taber MacCallum, who participated in the Biosphere 2 experiment.
Waypoint2Space was granted FAA safety approval for its training services in 2014. The company works in collaboration with NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston to provide spaceflight training.
The first private firm that tried to build a suborbital space rocket, Truax Engineering, selected company employee, engineer and lifelong aviator Jeana Yeager as the first test pilot for its rocket. The project was halted in 1991 due to lack of funds.