Launch
Nuri makes its fifth launch
Nuri placed 5 very small cluster satellites at an altitude of about 570 km. Of the 10 CubeSats it also carried, 9 separated.
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Space timeline
Key moments, newest first
From 1957, when the first artificial satellite went up, to today, as rockets are reused and people are going to the Moon again.
19 eventsLaunch 12Milestone 7
2026
Milestone
Starship reaches orbit for the first time
On its 14th flight, Starship entered Earth orbit for the first time and actually released 26 Starlink satellites.
Launch
Artemis II takes people to the Moon again
People went to the Moon for the first time since Apollo 17 in 1972. Three American astronauts and one Canadian astronaut flew around the far side of the Moon and returned, and also set a new record for the farthest people have been from Earth.
Source Wikipedia — Artemis II
2025
Milestone
A private lander touches down intact on the Moon
Blue Ghost, from America's Firefly, landed upright on the Moon. It was the first fully successful Moon landing by a private company.
2024
Milestone
The launch tower catches a Starship booster
SpaceX caught a returning Starship first-stage booster with the arms of its launch tower, showing a way to reuse it more quickly.
Milestone
Chang'e 6 brings back soil from the Moon's far side for the first time
A Chinese probe scooped soil and rock from the far side of the Moon and brought them to Earth. All earlier Moon samples came from the near side.
Source Wikipedia — Chang'e 6
2023
Milestone
Chandrayaan-3 lands near the Moon's south pole
India landed safely near the Moon's south pole for the first time. It became the fourth country to land on the Moon.
Source Wikipedia — Chandrayaan-3
2022
Launch
Artemis I heads back to the Moon
NASA used its new large rocket SLS to send the Orion spacecraft, with no crew, around the Moon and back.
Source Wikipedia — Artemis I
Launch
Danuri, South Korea's first Moon probe, launches
Danuri, South Korea's first lunar orbiter, was launched and entered lunar orbit in December of that year.
Source Korean Wikipedia — Danuri
Launch
Nuri puts a satellite in orbit with home-grown technology
On its second launch, Nuri, the launch vehicle South Korea developed on its own, put a satellite into orbit. South Korea became the seventh country able to launch satellites of over 1 ton by itself.
2021
Launch
The James Webb Space Telescope launches
The infrared space telescope that follows Hubble went up and began to look at the very distant early universe.
2020
Launch
A private spacecraft carries people for the first time
SpaceX's Crew Dragon took two NASA astronauts to the International Space Station. It was the first crewed flight of a spacecraft built by a private company.
2015
Milestone
Falcon 9's first stage returns and stands upright
SpaceX landed a first-stage rocket upright on the ground for the first time after it launched satellites. This opened the way to reusing rockets.
2013
Launch
Naro-1 launches successfully
A launch vehicle fired from Korean soil put a satellite into orbit for the first time. Russia designed and built its first stage.
Source Korean Wikipedia — Naro-1
1998
Launch
The first International Space Station module launches
Zarya, the first piece of the International Space Station built together by many countries, went up.
Source Wikipedia — Zarya
1990
Launch
The Hubble Space Telescope launches
The space shuttle Discovery put Hubble, a telescope that sees space without interference from the atmosphere, into Earth orbit.
1969
Milestone
Apollo 11 lands the first people on the Moon
America's Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed on the Moon and walked on it.
Source Wikipedia — Apollo 11
1961
Launch
Gagarin becomes the first person in space
The Soviet Union's Yuri Gagarin circled the Earth once aboard Vostok 1 and returned.
Source Wikipedia — Vostok 1
1957
Launch
Sputnik 1 becomes the first artificial satellite
The Soviet Union put the first human-made satellite into Earth orbit. The space age began here.
Source Wikipedia — Sputnik 1
New to this field? Start with First steps in space, a plain-language guide to the big picture.
The events were chosen and described by AI, and each date was checked against the source listed with it (an official announcement, a paper or Wikipedia). Dates follow the source: Korean events in Korean time, others in local time or UTC, so a day's difference is possible. The timeline does not grow by itself; new events are checked and added by hand. Report an errorLast updated