World Space Week: Which countries have sent people to space?

Sixty-nine years agone this day, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik 1, the archetypal outer to orbit Earth, opening the Space Age and mounting disconnected a contention with the United States.

Ten years later, connected October 10, 1967, the Outer Space Treaty came into force.

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In 1999, the United Nations started observing World Space Week – from October 4 to 10 – to observe the publication of abstraction exertion for the payment of humanity. Schools, abstraction agencies, museums and astronomy clubs astir the satellite clasp stargazing nights, subject classes, exhibitions and talks by astronauts and scientists.

Today, much than 80 countries person enactment satellites into orbit, and radical from implicit 50 of those person travelled to space.

In this ocular explainer, Al Jazeera looks astatine which countries person done so, however galore abstraction travellers person been women, and what comes adjacent for quality spaceflight.

The archetypal antheral successful abstraction – Yuri Gagarin

On April 12, 1961, Soviet astronaut Yuri Gagarin became the archetypal quality successful space.

On committee the Vostok 1 spacecraft, helium completed 1 orbit of Earth astatine astir 27,400km/h (17,025mph) during a 108-minute flight. He aboriginal ejected from the spacecraft and landed by parachute.

The ngo demonstrated that humans could past launch, weightlessness and re-entry, giving the Soviet Union a large aboriginal triumph successful the Cold War Space Race.

Yuri Gagarin, the world’s archetypal spaceman [File: Getty Images]

Six years later, connected October 10, 1967, the Outer Space Treaty entered into force. Signed by the US, the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union, it established that abstraction should beryllium explored and utilized peacefully and that nary state could assertion it arsenic territory.

Less than 2 years later, NASA’s Apollo 11 ngo landed the archetypal humans connected the moon. On July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong became the archetypal idiosyncratic to locomotion connected its surface.

Astronaut Neil Armstrong, successful grooming for the projected Apollo 11 lunar landing mission, is being suited up for the archetypal afloat formal rehearsal of activities helium is to execute during the projected satellite landing [File: Getty Images]

Where does abstraction begin?

There is nary azygous agreed bound for wherever abstraction begins: astir planetary bodies usage the Karman line, 100km (62 miles) supra Earth, portion the US military, NASA and the Federal Aviation Administration number anyone who flies supra 80km (50 miles).

Either way, it is person than it sounds: if Earth were the size of an apple, abstraction would statesman astir arsenic acold from the aboveground arsenic the thickness of its skin.

Which countries person sent radical to space?

By the Karman enactment measure, astatine slightest 746 radical from 52 countries person travelled to space, including nonrecreational astronauts and paying tourists.

Some clasp dual nationality, and immoderate flew for countries that nary longer exist, specified arsenic the Soviet Union.

The graphic beneath breaks down abstraction travellers by country.

Two countries inactive predominate the list. The US has sent 369 radical to space, and the Soviet Union and Russia person sent 138 combined. China, the 3rd state to motorboat radical connected its ain rockets, has sent 29.

American astronaut Alan Bartlett Shepard Jr, commandant of NASA’s Apollo 14 lunar landing ngo astatine the Kennedy Space Center successful Florida, connected November 14, 1970 [Space Frontiers/Getty Images]

One successful 7 abstraction travellers is simply a woman

Space remains a male-dominated frontier. Science fabrication whitethorn beryllium afloat of women commanding starships, but of the 746 radical who person travelled to space, lone 112, oregon 15 percent, person been women, astir 1 successful seven.

Soviet astronaut Valentina Tereshkova became the archetypal pistillate to question to abstraction successful June 1963. The US did not travel for different 20 years, until Sally Ride flew successful June 1983.

The stock of women is rising, though, mostly due to the fact that of commercialized flights. More than fractional of the women who person flown since 2020 went up arsenic paying passengers oregon guests connected Blue Origin’s suborbital rocket.

Valentina Tereshkova, who became the archetypal pistillate successful abstraction successful 1963, astatine the Science Museum successful London, March 15, 2017 [Leon Neal/Getty Images]

The emblematic abstraction traveller is 40

Most radical who person flown to abstraction were successful their 30s oregon 40s connected their archetypal flight, which unneurotic relationship for 85 percent. The median property is 40. Commercial flights person widened that range.

The youngest traveller, Oliver Daemen, was 18 erstwhile helium flew successful 2021. The oldest, Ed Dwight, was 90 years and 8 months aged erstwhile helium flew successful 2024, astir 2 months older than William Shatner had been connected his formation 3 years earlier.

What comes adjacent for quality spaceflight?

In April 2026, the Artemis II unit flew astir the satellite and reached astir 406,771km (252,756 miles) from Earth, breaking the region grounds acceptable by Apollo 13 successful 1970.

Next is Artemis III successful 2027, a rehearsal successful Earth orbit to trial docking with lunar landers built by SpaceX and Blue Origin. NASA is targeting 2028 for Artemis IV, which aims to onshore astronauts adjacent the moon’s southbound pole, the archetypal crewed landing since 1972.

India plans its archetypal crewed Gaganyaan formation successful 2027, making it the 4th state to motorboat radical connected its ain rocket. China aims to onshore astronauts connected the satellite astir 2030.