This is a list of astronauts, who are in a restricted sense, Asians.
If "Asian" is restricted to refer to people from the continent of Asia, exclusive of Asian Russia and Turkey, who are not of predominantly European, African, or American ancestry, then the list is as follows:
The first country listed is that of citizenship; the second, if any, is that of the Asian country of birth and/or ancestry, where different. Those of Asian ancestry but were born outside Asia are excluded.
The table lists astronauts whose origin or ancestry is in Central, East, South, Southeast, and West Asia.
List
#Image NameBirth date CountryNotes Missions (Launch date)1Phạm TuânFebruary 14, 1947First Vietnamese and first person of Asian origin to be in space.Soyuz 37 (July 23, 1980)2Jügderdemidiin GürragchaaDecember 5, 1947First Mongolian in space.Soyuz 39 (March 22, 1981)3Rakesh SharmaJanuary 13, 1949First Indian in space.Soyuz T-11/10 (April 3, 1984)4Taylor WangJune 16, 1940()First person of Chinese ancestry in spaceSecond Asian American in space, after Ellison OnizukaSTS-51-B (April 29, 1985)5Sultan bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al SaudJune 27, 1956First Saudi and first Arab in space.STS-51-G (June 17, 1985)6Muhammed FarisMay 26, 1951First Syrian in space.Soyuz TM-3/2 (July 22, 1987)7Musa ManarovMarch 22, 1951()First Azeri in space.Soyuz TM-4 (December 21, 1987)Soyuz TM-11 (December 2, 1990)8 Abdul Ahad MomandJanuary 1, 1959First Afghan in space.Soyuz TM-6/5 (August 29, 1988)9Toyohiro AkiyamaJuly 22, 1942First Japanese citizen in space.Soyuz TM-11/10 (December 2, 1990)10Toktar AubakirovJuly 27, 1946()First ethnic Kazakh in space.Soyuz TM-13/12 (October 2, 1991)11Eugene TrinhSeptember 14, 1950()First Vietnamese American in space.STS-50 (June 25, 1992)12Mamoru MohriJanuary 29, 1948STS-47 (September 12, 1992)STS-99 (February 11, 2000)13Talgat MusabayevJanuary 7, 1951()Soyuz TM-19 (July 1, 1994)Soyuz TM-27 (January 29, 1998)Soyuz TM-32/31 (April 28, 2001)14Chiaki MukaiMay 6, 1952First Japanese woman and first Asian woman in space.STS-65 (July 8, 1994)STS-95 (October 29, 1998)15Koichi WakataAugust 1, 1963Served on the ISS in Expedition 18, 19, 20, Expedition 38/39 and Expedition 68.STS-72 (July 11, 1996)STS-92 (October 11, 2000)STS-119/127 (March 15, 2009)Soyuz TMA-11M (November 7, 2013) SpaceX Crew-5 (October 5, 2022)16Kalpana ChawlaMarch 17, 1962()First Indian American in space. Died on the Columbia.STS-87 (19 November 1997)STS-107 (16 January 2003)17Takao DoiSeptember 18, 1954First Japanese spacewalker.STS-87 (November 19, 1997)STS-123 (March 11, 2008)18Salizhan SharipovAugust 24, 1964()Of Uzbek ancestry. Served on ISS Expedition 10.STS-89 (January 22, 1998)Soyuz TMA-5 (October 14, 2004)19Fyodor YurchikhinJanuary 3, 1959()First Georgian in space, of Pontic Greek ancestry.Served on the ISS in Expedition 15.STS-112 (October 7, 2002)Soyuz TMA-10 (April 7, 2007)20Ilan RamonJune 20, 1954First Israeli in space. Died on the Columbia.STS-107 (January 16, 2003)21Yang LiweiJune 21, 1965First taikonaut from the People's Republic of China.First person launched by an independent spaceflight mission from Asia.Shenzhou 5 (October 15, 2003)22Soichi NoguchiApril 15, 1965Served on the ISS in (Expedition 22/23) and (Expedition 64/65).STS-114 (July 26, 2005)Soyuz TMA-17 (December 20, 2009)SpaceX Crew-1 (November 16, 2020)23, 24Fei JunlongMay 5, 1965Shenzhou 6 (October 12, 2005)Shenzhou 15 (November 29, 2022)Nie HaishengOctober 13, 1964Shenzhou 6 (October 12, 2005)Shenzhou 10 (June 11, 2013)Shenzhou 12 (June 17, 2021)25Anousheh AnsariSeptember 12, 1966()First Iranian-American in space.Soyuz TMA-9/8 (September 18, 2006)26Sheikh Muszaphar ShukorJuly 27, 1972First Malaysian in space.Soyuz TMA-11/10 (October 10, 2007)27Yi So-yeonJune 2, 1978First Korean citizen in space.Soyuz TMA-11/12 (April 8, 2008)28Akihiko HoshideDecember 28, 1968Served on the ISS in (Expedition 32/33).STS-124 (May 31, 2008)Soyuz TMA-05M (15 July 2012)SpaceX Crew-2 (23 April 2021)29, 30, 31Jing HaipengOctober 24, 1966Shenzhou 7 (September 25, 2008)Shenzhou 9 (June 16, 2012)Shenzhou 11 (October 17, 2016)Shenzhou 16 (May 30, 2023)Liu BomingOctober 29, 1966Shenzhou 7 (September 25, 2008)Shenzhou 12 (June 17, 2021)Zhai ZhigangOctober 10, 1966Shenzhou 7 (September 25, 2008)Shenzhou 13 (October 15, 2021)32Naoko YamazakiDecember 27, 1970STS-131 (April 5, 2010)33Satoshi FurukawaApril 4, 1964Served on the ISS in (Expedition 28/29).Soyuz TMA-02M (7 June 2011)SpaceX Crew-7 (26 August 2023)34, 35Liu Wang1970Shenzhou 9 (June 16, 2012)Liu Yang1978 First Chinese woman in space.36, 37Wang YapingJanuary 1988 First Asian female astronaut to perform a spacewalk (Shenzhou 13).Shenzhou 10 (June 11, 2013)Shenzhou 13 (October 15, 2021)Zhang XiaoguangMay 1966Shenzhou 10 (June 11, 2013)38Kimiya YuiJanuary 30, 1970Served on the ISS in (Expedition 44/45).Soyuz TMA-17M (July 22, 2015)Soyuz MS-11 (August 1, 2025)39Aidyn AimbetovJuly 27, 1972Soyuz TMA-18M (September 2, 2015)40Takuya OnishiDecember 22, 1975Served on the ISS in (Expedition 48/49/72/73).Soyuz MS-01 (July 7, 2016)SpaceX Crew-10 (March 14, 2025)41Chen DongDecember 12, 1978Shenzhou 11 (October 17, 2016)Shenzhou 14 (June 5, 2022)Shenzhou 20/21 (April 24, 2025)42Norishige KanaiDecember 5, 1976Served on the ISS on (Expedition 54/55).Soyuz MS-07 (December 27, 2017)43Hazza Al Mansouri December 13, 1983First United Arab Emirates in space.Soyuz MS-15/12 (September 25, 2019)44Tang HongboOctober, 1975Shenzhou 12 (June 17, 2021) Shenzhou 17 (October 26, 2023)45Sirisha Bandla1988()Virgin Galactic Unity 22 (July 11, 2021)46Ye GuangfuSeptember, 1980Shenzhou 13 (October 15, 2021)Shenzhou 18 (April 25, 2024)47, 48Yozo Hirano1985Space tourist from Space AdventuresFirst space tourists from JapanFirst time two Japanese people were launched together. Soyuz MS-20 (December 8, 2021)Yusaku Maezawa22 November 197549Eytan StibbeJanuary 12, 1958Space tourist from Axiom Space. First Space tourist from Israel.Axiom Mission 1 (April 8, 2022)50Cai XuzheMay, 1976Shenzhou 14 (June 5, 2022)51Zhang LuNovember, 1976Shenzhou 15 (September 29, 2022)Shenzhou 21/22(October 31, 2025)52Deng QingmingMarch, 1966Shenzhou 15 (September 29, 2022)53Sultan Al NeyadiMay 23, 1981First United Arab Emirates for long duration mission in space.SpaceX Crew-6 (March 2, 2023)54, 55Ali AlQarni March, 1992First Saudi astronaut to ISS.Axiom Mission 2 (May 21, 2023) Rayyanah Barnawi September, 1988First Saudi astronaut to ISS. First female Saudi astronaut in space. 56, 57 Gui HaichaoNovember, 1986First civilian taikonaut in space. Shenzhou 16 (May 30, 2023) Zhu YangzhuSeptember, 198658Namira SalimFirst Pakistani in space.Galactic 04 (October 6, 2023)59, 60Jiang XinlinFebruary, 1988Shenzhou 17 (October 26, 2023)Tang ShengjieDecember, 1989Shenzhou 17 (October 26, 2023)61Alper GezeravcıDecember, 1979First Turk in space and to ISS.Axiom Mission 3 (January 18, 2024)62, 63Li CongOctober, 1989Shenzhou 18 (April 25, 2024)Li GuangsuJuly 198764Gopichand Thotakura1993First space tourist from IndiaBlue Origin NS-25 (May 19, 2024)65Tuva Cihangir Atasever1992Galactic 07 (June 8, 2024)66, 67, 68Eiman JahangirAug, 1980 ()Blue Origin NS-26(August 29, 2024)Ephraim Rabin? ()Nicolina Elrick? ()First Singaporean permanent resident in space69, 70Song LingdongAugust, 1990 Shenzhou 19(October 29, 2024)Wang HaozeMarch 199071Chun Wang1982/ () First Asian-born in polar retrograde orbit, i.e., to fly over Earth's poles.Fram2 (March 31, 2025)72Amanda NguyễnOctober 1991()First Vietnamese American andsoutheast Asian American woman astronaut. Blue Origin NS-31 (April 14, 2025)73, 74Chen ZhongruiAugust, 1990Shenzhou 20/21(April 24, 2025)Wang JieMarch 1990 75 Shubhanshu Shukla10 October 1985 An Indian Air Force test pilot and ISRO astronaut, first Indian & South Asian to go to the ISS. Axiom Mission 4(25 June 2025) 76, 77 H.E. Justin Sun30 July 1999 () Blue Origin NS-34(3 August 2025)Arvinder (Arvi) Singh Bahal13 October 1945 ()78Danna Karagussova?Blue Origin NS-36 (October 8, 2025)79, 80Wu FeiOctober, 1993Shenzhou 21/22(October 31, 2025)Zhang HongzhangApril 1986
List by country
CountryAstronautsMaiden flight129 August 1988121 December 19873015 October 200317 October 200263 April 1984218 September 2006316 January 2003132 December 199042 October 1991122 January 1998110 October 2007122 March 198116 October 2023317 June 1985122 July 1987129 April 198518 April 2008218 January 2024225 September 2019223 July 1980125 February 2025
Human spaceflight programs
CountryOrganisation ProgramDestination PeriodAstronautsCNSALow Earth orbit1968–1972CNSALow Earth orbit1992–present26CNSALow Earth orbit1999–present25ISROLow Earth orbit2006–present4ISRCVery low Earth orbit2015–presentTBDISROLow Earth orbit2019–presentTBD ILRSMoon2021–presentTBD
Other Asian-born astronauts Several Soviet and Russian cosmonauts of Russian ethnicity, and some American astronauts not of Asian ancestry, were born in Asian Russia and other parts of Asia: Born in Asian Russia — Dmitri Kondratyev, Vasili Lazarev, Alexei Leonov, Aleksandr Poleshchuk, Nikolai Rukavishnikov, Valery Ryumin, Vitali Sevastyanov, Maksim Surayev, Gherman Titov, Vladimir Titov, Pavel Vinogradov, Boris Volynov. Born in Kazakhstan — Yuri Lonchakov, Viktor Patsayev, Vladimir Shatalov, Aleksandr Viktorenko Born in Turkmenistan — Oleg Kononenko Born in Uzbekistan — Vladimir Dzhanibekov Born in China — William Anders, Shannon Lucid Born in Taiwan - Kjell N. Lindgren (American by nationality, and half Taiwanese)
See also List of Asian American astronauts
References