Records and firsts in spaceflight are broadly divided into crewed and uncrewed categories. Records involving animal spaceflight have also been noted in earlier experimental flights, typically to establish the feasibility of sending humans to outer space.

The notion of "firsts" in spaceflight follows a long tradition of firsts in aviation, but is also closely tied to the Space Race. During the 1950s and 1960s, the Soviet Union and the United States competed to be the first countries to accomplish various feats. In 1957, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik 1, the first artificial orbital satellite. In 1961, Soviet Vostok 1 cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first person to enter space and orbit the Earth, and in 1969 American Apollo 11 astronaut Neil Armstrong became the first person to set foot on the Moon.

During the 1970s, the Soviet Union directed its energies to human habitation of space stations of increasingly long durations. In the 1980s, the United States began launching its Space Shuttles, which carried larger crews and thus could increase the number of people in space at a given time. Following their first mission of détente on the 1975 Apollo-Soyuz Test Project, the Soviet Union and the United States again collaborated with each other on the Shuttle-Mir initiative, efforts which led to the International Space Station (ISS), which has been continuously inhabited by humans for over 25 years.

Other firsts in spaceflight involve demographics, private enterprise, and distance. Dozens of countries have sent at least one traveler to space. In 1963, Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman in space, aboard Vostok 6. In the early 21st century, private companies joined government agencies in crewed spaceflight: in 2004, the sub-orbital spaceplane SpaceShipOne became the first privately funded crewed craft to enter space; in 2020, SpaceX's Dragon 2 became the first privately developed crewed vehicle to reach orbit when it ferried a crew to the ISS. As of , the uncrewed probe Voyager 1 is the most distant artificial object from the Earth, part of a small class of vehicles that are leaving the Solar System.

First independent suborbital and orbital human spaceflight by country CountryMissionCrewSpacecraftLaunch vehicleDateTypeNotes USSRVostok 1Yuri GagarinVostok 3KAVostok-K12 April 1961Orbital USAMercury-Redstone 3 (Freedom 7)Alan ShepardMercury Spacecraft No.7Mercury-Redstone5 May 1961Sub-orbital USAMercury-Atlas 6 (Friendship 7)John GlennMercury Spacecraft No.13Atlas LV-3B20 February 1962Orbital USSRSoyuz 18AVasily Lazarev, Oleg MakarovSoyuz 7K-TSoyuz 11A5115 April 1975Sub-orbitalThe mission was intended to be orbital, but a fault in the launch vehicle prevented the spacecraft from reaching orbit. RussiaSoyuz TM-14Aleksandr Viktorenko, Aleksandr Kaleri, Klaus-Dietrich FladeSoyuz-TMSoyuz-U217 March 1992OrbitalFirst Soyuz mission to occur after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. ChinaShenzhou 5Yang LiweiShenzhou spacecraftLong March 2F15 October 2003Orbital

Human spaceflight firsts

Note: Some space records are disputed as a result of ambiguities surrounding the border of space. Most records follow the FAI definition of the space border which the FAI sets at an altitude of 100 km (62.14 mi). By contrast, US agencies define the border of space at 50 mi (80.47 km).

FirstPerson(s)MissionCountryDateYuri Gagarin Vostok 1 USSR12 April 1961Alan ShepardFreedom 7 USA5 May 1961Gherman TitovVostok 2 USSR6 August 1961 – 7 August 1961 USSR12 August 1962 – 15 August 1962Valentina TereshkovaVostok 6 USSR16 June 1963 – 19 June 1963Joe WalkerX-15 Flight 90 USA19 July 1963Person to enter space twice (suborbital flights above )Joe WalkerX-15 Flights 90 and 91 USA22 August 1963Voskhod 1 USSR12 October 1964 – 13 October 1964Voskhod 2 USSR18 March 1965 – 19 March 1965SpacewalkAlexei LeonovVoskhod 2 USSR18 March 1965Orbital maneuvers (change orbit)Gus Grissom, John W. YoungGemini 3 USA23 March 1965Person to fly two orbital spaceflightsGordon Cooper USAPersons to spend one week in spaceGemini 5 USA21 August 1965 – 29 August 1965Spaceflight aborted before liftoff (after engine start)Gemini 6A USA12 December 1965 USA15 December 1965 – 16 December 1965Civilian in orbit (at the time of flight)Neil ArmstrongGemini 8 USA16 March 1966 – 17 March 1966Space dockingGemini 8 and Agena USA16 March 1966Multiple (dual) rendezvous (with Agena 10, then Agena 8)Neal et al., p. 235Gemini 10 USAPersons to exceed 1,000 km above EarthGemini 11 USA12 September 1966 – 15 September 1966Spaceflight death (during landing)Vladimir KomarovSoyuz 1 USSR23 April 1967 – 24 April 1967Wally Schirra USA22 October 1968Apollo 8 USA24 December 1968 – 25 December 1968People to fly together twice on different missions USA21 December 1968 USSR16 January 1969Solo flight around the MoonJohn YoungApollo 10 USA22 May 1969Apollo 11 USA20 July 1969Five people in space at the same time USSR12 October 1969 – 13 October 1969 USSR13 October 1969 – 16 October 1969Person to complete four spaceflightsJames A. Lovell USA17 April 1970James A. Lovell USA11 April 1970 – 17 April 1970 USA11 April 1970 – 17 April 1970Soyuz 9 USSR1 June 1970 – 19 June 1970People to EVA out of sight of their spacecraftApollo 14 USA6 February 1971Person to play sports on a planetary body other than EarthAlan ShepardApollo 14 USA7 February 1971 USSR22 April 1971 – 24 April 1971 USSR7 June 1971 – 29 June 1971Person to use a telescope in spaceViktor Patsayev USSR7 June 1971 – 29 June 1971People to travel in a wheeled vehicle on a planetary body other than EarthApollo 15 USA31 July 1971– 2 August 1971Deep space EVA (trans-Earth trajectory)Alfred WordenApollo 15 USA5 August 1971Person to be in lunar orbit twice (during separate lunar expeditions)John W. Young USA16 April 1972 – 27 April 1972People in orbit for four weeksSkylab 2 USA25 May 1973 – 22 June 1973Spacewalk at a space stationPaul WeitzSkylab 2 USA26 May 1973People in orbit for eight weeksSkylab 3 USA28 July 1973 – 25 September 1973People in orbit for 12 weeksSkylab 4 USA16 November 1973 – 8 February 1974Vasily Lazarev, Oleg MakarovSoyuz 7K-T No.39 USSR5 April 1975International dockingThomas P. Stafford, Vance D. Brand, Donald K. Slayton – USA Alexei Leonov, Valeri Kubasov – USSRApollo–SoyuzUSA USSR17 July 1975Crew to visit occupied space stationVladimir Dzhanibekov, Oleg MakarovSoyuz 27 visits Salyut 6 EO-1 crew USSR10 January 1978 – 16 January 1978People in orbit 19 weeks(4 months)Vladimir Kovalyonok, Aleksandr IvanchenkovSalyut 6 EO-2, Soyuz 29-Soyuz 31 USSR15 June 1978 – 2 November 1978People in orbit 26 weeks(6 months)Leonid Popov, Valery RyuminSalyut 6 EO-4, Soyuz 35-Soyuz 37 USSR9 April 1980 – 11 October 1980 Spaceflight (orbital) by winged spacecraft Spaceflight (orbital) of a reusable spacecraft First, and only, crew launched on a rocket's maiden flightSTS-1 USA12 April 1981Person to fly four different types of spacecraftJohn W. Young USA12 April 1981Person to complete five spaceflightsJohn W. Young USA14 April 1981Re-use of previously flown spacecraft (orbital)STS-2 USA12 November 1981Woman to visit a space stationSvetlana SavitskayaSalyut 7, Soyuz T-7 USSR20 August 1982Four-person spaceflight in a single spacecraftSTS-5 USA11 November 1982 – 16 November 1982Five-person spaceflight in a single spacecraftSTS-7 USA18 June 1983 – 24 June 1983LGBTQ person in spaceSally K. RideSTS-7 USA18 June 1983 – 24 June 1983Use of a launch escape system in an emergencyVladimir Titov, Gennady StrekalovSoyuz 7K-ST No.16L USSR26 September 1983Six-person spaceflight in a single spacecraftSTS-928 November 1983 – 8 December 1983Person to complete six spaceflightsJohn W. Young USA8 December 1983Untethered spacewalkBruce McCandless IISTS-41-BRooney, pp. 42–43. USA7 February 1984Eight people in space at the same time (no docking)Salyut 7 EO-3, Soyuz T-10, STS-41-B8 February 1984 – 11 February 198411 people in space at the same time (no docking)STS-41-C, Salyut 7 EO-3, Soyuz T-10-Soyuz T-116 April 1984 – 11 April 1984People to complete four spacewalks during the same missionLeonid Kizim, Vladimir SolovyovSalyut 7 USSR 26 April – 18 May 1984Woman to enter space twiceSvetlana SavitskayaSoyuz T-7, Soyuz T-12 USSR17 July 1984Spacewalk by a womanSvetlana SavitskayaSoyuz T-12 USSR25 July 1984Welding in spaceVladimir Dzhanibekov, Svetlana SavitskayaSalyut 7, Soyuz T-12 USSR25 July 1984People in orbit 33 weeks (7 months)Leonid Kizim, Vladimir Solovyov, Oleg AtkovSalyut 7 EO-3, Soyuz T-10-Soyuz T-11 USSR8 February 1984 – 2 October 1984Seven-person spaceflight in a single spacecraftSTS-41-G5 October 1984 – 13 October 1984Two women in space at the same timeKathryn D. Sullivan, Sally K. RideSTS-41-G USA5 October 1984 – 13 October 1984Member of royalty in spaceSultan bin Salman Al Saud – House of SaudSTS-51-G Saudi Arabia USA17 June 1985 – 24 June 1985Partial crew exchange at a space stationAlexander Volkov, Vladimir Vasyutin replace Vladimir DzhanibekovSoyuz T-14, Salyut 7 USSR17 September 1985 – 26 September 1985Eight-person spaceflight in a single spacecraftSTS-61-A30 October 1985 – 6 November 1985Deaths during launchSTS-51-L USA28 January 1986Soyuz T-15 from Mir to Salyut 7 back to Mir USSR15 March 1986 – 16 July 1986Person to accumulate 1 year in spaceLeonid KizimSoyuz T-3 Soyuz T-15 visiting Mir and Salyut 7 USSR28 June 1986Complete crew exchange at a space stationVladimir Titov, Musa Manarov replace Yuri Romanenko, Alexander AlexandrovSoyuz TM-4-Soyuz TM-2, Soyuz TM-3, at Mir USSR21 December 1987 – 29 December 1987People in orbit 52 weeks (one year)Vladimir Titov, Musa ManarovMir EO-3, Soyuz TM-4-Soyuz TM-6 USSR21 December 1987 – 21 December 1988International spacewalkAlexander Volkov, Jean-Loup ChrétienMir, Soyuz TM-79 December 1988Submariner in spaceMichael J. McCulleySTS-34 USA18 October 1989 – 23 October 198912 people in space at the same time (no docking)STS-35, Mir EO-7, Soyuz TM-10 Soyuz TM-112 December 1990 – 10 December 1990Civilian to use a commercial space flight, and journalist to report on space from outer spaceToyohiro Akiyama – JapanSoyuz TM-10, Soyuz TM-11 Japan2 December 1990 – 10 December 1990Three women in space at the same timeMillie Hughes-Fulford, Tamara E. Jernigan, M. Rhea SeddonSTS-40 USA5 June 1991 – 14 June 1991Three-person spacewalkSTS-49 USA13 May 1992Married couple in spaceMark C. Lee, Jan DavisSTS-47 USA12 September 1992 – 20 September 199213 people in space at the same time (no docking)STS-67, Mir, Soyuz TM-20, Soyuz TM-2114 March 1995 – 18 March 1995Ten people in a single spacecraft (docking)STS-71, Mir, Soyuz TM-2129 June 1995 – 4 July 1995Spacewalk during an international dockingMichael R. Clifford, Linda M. GodwinSTS-76, Mir USA27 March 1996Person to accumulate 2 years in spaceSergey AvdeevSoyuz TM-15 (Mir EO-12) Soyuz TM-22 (Mir EO-20) Soyuz TM-28/Soyuz TM-29 Mir EO 27 Russia10 July 1999Woman to command a space missionEileen CollinsSTS-93 USA23 July 1999 – 27 July 1999Space touristDennis TitoSoyuz TM-32/31, ISS EP-1April 28, 2001 – May 6, 2001Person to complete seven trips to spaceJerry L. Ross USA19 April 2002Deaths during re-entry STS-1071 February 2003Privately funded human space flight (suborbital)Mike MelvillSpaceShipOne flight 15P USA21 June 200413 people in a single spacecraft (docking)ISS, Soyuz TMA-14, Soyuz TMA-15, STS-12717 July 2009People to fly together three times on different missions USA28 August 2009Four women in space at the same time (docking)5 April 2010 – 20 April 2010Thirty-ninth launch, orbital flight, and landing of a reusable crewed spacecraft24 February 2011 – 9 March 2011 Private spaceflight death Person to survive an in-flight spacecraft destructionMichael Alsbury Peter SieboldVSS Enterprise