Timeline

68 years of space exploration

From landmark firsts to the milestones ahead: firsts, major missions, discoveries and accidents that shaped our relationship with space. Filter by event type.

All First Mission Discovery Accident Upcoming

The 1950s

1957

First · USSR

Sputnik 1, first artificial satellite

The beginning of the space age: a human-made object in orbit for the first time.

The 1960s

1961

First · USSR

Yuri Gagarin, first human in space

First crewed orbital flight, a turning point in the Space Race.

The 1990s

1998

First · International

Start of ISS assembly

The largest object ever assembled in orbit, the fruit of worldwide cooperation.