Human spaceflight

Human spaceflight (also referred to as manned spaceflight or crewed spaceflight) is <a href="/facts/Spaceflight/zPrnATzo">spaceflight</a> with a crew or passengers aboard a <a href="/facts/Spacecraft/YQqQaUw0">spacecraft</a>, often with the spacecraft being operated directly by the onboard human crew. Spacecraft can also be <a href="/facts/Telerobotic/neQ6bswt">remotely operated</a> from ground stations on Earth, or <a href="/facts/Autonomous_robot/LcPSUhQx">autonomously</a>, without any direct human involvement. People trained for spaceflight are called <a href="/facts/Astronaut/HB1bd6Lz">astronauts</a> (American or other), cosmonauts (Russian), or taikonauts (Chinese); and non-professionals are referred to as <a href="/facts/Spaceflight_participant/mVwHH2Jm">spaceflight participants</a> or spacefarers.
The first human in space was <a href="/facts/Soviet_Union/m7wWsPto">Soviet</a> cosmonaut <a href="/facts/Yuri_Gagarin/ucwoarjc">Yuri Gagarin</a>, who launched as part of the Soviet Union's <a href="/facts/Vostok_program/8RL5f2GI">Vostok program</a> on <a href="/facts/Cosmonautics_Day/SoKNpfve">12 April 1961</a> at the beginning of the <a href="/facts/Space_Race/9fPV4LUq">Space Race</a>. On 5 May 1961, <a href="/facts/Alan_Shepard/hS5AgMdu">Alan Shepard</a> became the first American in space, as part of <a href="/facts/Project_Mercury/H8zqFzbC">Project Mercury</a>. Humans traveled to <a href="/facts/The_Moon/zKHqEMPb">the Moon</a> nine times between 1968 and 1972 as part of the United States' <a href="/facts/Apollo_program/IC1Ek1Ao">Apollo program</a>, and have had a continuous presence in space for 24 years and 160 days on the <a href="/facts/International_Space_Station/VNPUBz9m">International Space Station</a> (ISS). On 15 October 2003, the first Chinese taikonaut, <a href="/facts/Yang_Liwei/CJq00dls">Yang Liwei</a>, went to space as part of <a href="/facts/Shenzhou_5/IADaUGNN">Shenzhou 5</a>, the first Chinese human spaceflight. As of March 2025, humans have not traveled beyond <a href="/facts/Low_Earth_orbit/rq1TwayJ">low Earth orbit</a> since the <a href="/facts/Apollo_17/5szGEz7n">Apollo 17</a> <a href="/facts/List_of_missions_to_the_Moon/AFdKTjtv">lunar mission</a> in December 1972.
Currently, the <a href="/facts/United_States/P0sCdLe5">United States</a>, Russia, and China are the only countries with <a href="/facts/Human_spaceflight_programs/2x9IWasF">public or commercial human spaceflight-capable programs</a>. <a href="/facts/List_of_private_spaceflight_companies/wTzn5Xax">Non-governmental spaceflight companies</a> have been working to develop human space programs of their own, e.g. for <a href="/facts/Space_tourism/fMK9CcnM">space tourism</a> or commercial <a href="/facts/Space_research/dGHRlT0K">in-space research</a>. The first private human spaceflight launch was a <a href="/facts/Suborbital_flight/NdLRlGIq">suborbital flight</a> on <a href="/facts/SpaceShipOne/80LUjFgH">SpaceShipOne</a> on June 21, 2004. The first commercial <a href="/facts/Orbital_spaceflight/xdzKmkvt">orbital</a> crew launch was by <a href="/facts/SpaceX/2tKHsVdJ">SpaceX</a> in May 2020, transporting <a href="/facts/NASA/TIMCV0yV">NASA</a> astronauts to the <a href="/facts/ISS/VNPUBz9m">ISS</a> under United States government contract.

Human spaceflight open-in-new

Human spaceflight