Timeline of the Space Race

This is a timeline of achievements in Soviet and United States spaceflight, spanning the Cold War era of competition known as the Space Race.

This list is limited to first achievements by the USSR and USA which were important during the Space Race in terms of public perception and/or technical innovation. This excludes first uses of specific on-board equipment and new scientific discoveries, or achievements by other countries.

Beginning DateCountryAchievementMission / Vehicle1955 July 29 USAThe United States announces their intention to launch an artificial satellite during the International Geophysical Year (1 July 1957 to 31 December 1958)./1955 August 30 USSRIn the Soviet Union, the commission approved launching a 1 ton satellite using the R-7 ICBM./

1957–1959

DateCountryAchievementMission / Vehicle1957 August 21 USSRFirst intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM); fully operational September 1957R-7 Semyorka1957 October 4 USSRFirst artificial satellite First man-made signals from orbitSputnik 11957 November 3 USSRFirst mammal (the dog Laika) in orbit around Earth.Sputnik 21958 March 17 USAFirst solar-powered satelliteVanguard 11959 January 2 USSRFirst lunar spacecraft (fly-by)First rocket engine restart in Earth orbitFirst spacecraft to leave Earth's orbitFirst spacecraft on an escape trajectory from EarthLuna 11959 January 4 USSRFirst spacecraft in heliocentric orbitLuna 11959 February 28 USAFirst satellite in a polar orbitDiscoverer 11959 August 7 USAFirst photograph of Earth from orbitExplorer 61959 September 14 USSRFirst hard landing on another celestial body (the Moon)Luna 21959 October 7 USSRFirst three-axis stabilised spacecraftFirst photos of far side of the Moon, covering 70% of the surface invisible from EarthFirst automated on board development of photographic film and conversion to radio signalsFirst gravity assist ('sling shot'), returning the spacecraft to Earth to retrieve the photosLuna 3

1960–1969

DateCountryAchievementMission / Vehicle1960 August 11 USAFirst satellite recovered intact from orbitDiscoverer 131960 August 18 USAFirst spy photography from spaceFirst aerial recovery of an object (the film) returning from Earth orbitDiscoverer 141960 August 19 USSRFirst animals and plants returned alive from space (the dogs Belka and Strelka)First capsule recovered from orbitKorabl-Sputnik 2 (aka Sputnik 5)1961 January 31 USAFirst great ape or Hominidae in space, Ham, a chimpanzeeMercury-Redstone 21961 February 12 USSRFirst launch from Earth orbit of upper stage into a heliocentric orbitFirst mid-course corrections First spin-stabilisationVenera 11961 April 12 USSRFirst human spaceflight mission (Yuri Gagarin)First orbital flight of a manned vehicleVostok 11961 May 5 USAFirst pilot-controlled space flight (Alan Shepard)Freedom 71961 May 19 USSRFirst planetary flyby (Venus), although contact was lostVenera 11961 August 6 USSRFirst crewed mission lasting a full day (Gherman Titov).Vostok 21962 August 12 USSRFirst dual crewed spaceflight (Andriyan Nikolayev and Pavel Popovich)First spacecraft-to-spacecraft radio contact First simultaneous flight of crewed spacecraft. First person to float freely in microgravity.Vostok 3 / Vostok 41962 December 14 USAFirst successful planetary flyby mission (Venus).Mariner 21963 June 16 USSRFirst woman in space (Valentina Tereshkova) First civilian in spaceVostok 61963 June 19 USSRFirst Mars flyby, although contact was lostMars 11963 July 19 USAFirst reusable piloted spacecraft First spaceplane (suborbital)X-15 Flight 901963 July 26 USAFirst geosynchronous satelliteSyncom 21964 August 19 USAFirst geostationary satelliteSyncom 31964 October 12 USSRFirst spaceflight to carry more than one crewman into orbit (3)Voskhod 11965 March 18 USSRFirst extra-vehicular activity ("space walk")Voskhod 21965 March 23 USAFirst piloted spacecraft orbit changeGemini 31965 July 14 USAFirst successful Mars flyby missionMariner 41965 December 15 USAFirst rendezvous of crewed spacecraftGemini 6A & Gemini 7 1966 February 3 USSRFirst soft landing on another celestial body (the Moon) First photos from another celestial bodyLuna 91966 March 1 USSRFirst hard landing on another planet (Venus)Venera 31966 March 16 USAFirst spacecraft dockingGemini 8 / ATV1966 April 3 USSRFirst artificial satellite to orbit another celestial body (the Moon)Luna 101966 September 12 USAFirst direct-ascent (first orbit) rendezvousGemini 11 / ATV1967 October 18 USSRFirst in situ analysis of the atmosphere of another planet (Venus)Venera 41967 October 30 USSRFirst docking of two remote-controlled spacecraftCosmos 186 / Cosmos 1881968 September 14–21 USSRFirst return to Earth after circling the MoonFirst life forms to circle the Moon (returned safely)Zond 51968 December 21 USAFirst return to Earth after orbiting the MoonFirst human spaceflight mission to enter the gravitational influence of another celestial bodyApollo 81969 January USSRFirst parachute to be deployed on another planet (Venus)Venera 51969 January 16 USSRFirst crew exchange in space First docking of two crewed spacecraftSoyuz 4 / Soyuz 51969 July 20 USAFirst humans on the Moon First space launch from another celestial bodyFirst sample return from the MoonApollo 111969 November 19 USAFirst precisely targeted piloted landing on the Moon (Surveyor 3 site)Apollo 12

1970–1979

DateCountryAchievementMission / Vehicle1970 September 24 USSRFirst robotic automatic sample return from another celestial body (the Moon)Luna 161970 November 23 USSRFirst lunar rover (remote-controlled) First rover on another celestial body (the Moon)Lunokhod 11970 December 15 USSRFirst soft landing on another planet (Venus) First signals from another planetVenera 71971 April 19 USSRFirst human-crewed space station launchedSalyut 11971 June 29 USSRFirst human-crewed orbital observatory (Orion 1)Soyuz 11 / Salyut 11971 July 31 USAFirst human-driven lunar rover, the Lunar Roving VehicleApollo 151971 November 14 USAFirst spacecraft to orbit MarsMariner 91971 November 27 USSRFirst hard landing on MarsMars 21971 December 2 USSRFirst soft Mars landing First signals from Mars surfaceMars 31972 March 3 USAFirst spacecraft sent on escape trajectory away from the SunPioneer 101972 July 15 USAFirst mission to enter the asteroid belt and leave inner Solar SystemPioneer 101973 December 3 USAFirst Jupiter flybyPioneer 101974 March 29 USAFirst Mercury flybyMariner 101975 July 15 USSR USAFirst multinational human-crewed missionSoyuz 19Apollo–Soyuz Test Project1975 October 20 USSRFirst spacecraft to orbit Venus (the orbiter)First view and clear photograph from and of the surface of another planet (the lander)Venera 91979 September 1 USAFirst Saturn flybyPioneer 11

1980–1990

DateCountryAchievementMission / Vehicle1981 April 12 USAFirst spaceplane in orbit, the Space Shuttle (test flight)STS-11984 February 7 USAFirst untethered spacewalk, Bruce McCandless IISTS-41-B1985 June 11 USSRFirst aerostat balloon in the atmosphere of VenusVega 1 probe1986 January 24 USAFirst Uranus flybyVoyager 21986 February 19 USSRFirst module of the first modular space station launched, marking the start of the orbital assemblyMir Core Module1989 August 25 USAFirst Neptune flybyVoyager 21990 February 11 USSRFirst consistently inhabited long-term research space stationMir

On 1991 December 31, the United Nations accepted the dissolution of the USSR, which meant the end of the space race.

Timeline of the Space Race

Bron en licentie