Space History
Historical Timeline
1952: Russia: First artificial satellite Sputnik 1 (10/4/1957)
1957: USSR: Sputnik 2: Laika
1958: USA: Explorer 1: Discovered the Van Allen Belts
1958: Flight data recorder: David Warren
1959: USSR: Luna 2: First spacecraft to reach the Moon
1959: USSR: Luna 3: First circumnavigation of Moon
1962: USA: Mariner 2: First interplanetary mission – Venus flyby
1962: USSR: Ranger 7: Impact with the Moon
1964: USA: Mariner 4: First close up pictures of Mars
1964: USA: Mariner 5: Venus flyby
1966: USSR: Luna 9: First successful lunar soft landing
1966: USSR: Luna 10: First spacecraft in lunar orbit
1966: USA: Surveyor 1: First US soft landing on the Moon
1966: USA: Lunar Orbiter 1: First lunar orbiting survey vehicle
1967: USSR: Venera 4: Frist data back from inside atmosphere of Venus
1969 - Moon - Space Age and UN
1970: USSR: Venera 7: First data back from surface of Venus
1970: USSR: Luna 16: Soft landing on Moon with return of samples to Earth
1971: USSR: Mars 2: Mars orbiter and landers, only orbiter successful
1971: USA: Mariner 9: Mars orbiter, first global mapping of planet
1972: Pioneer 10: First Jupiter flyby
1972: Venera 8: First chemical analysis of Venus
1973: USA: Pioneer 11: Second Jupiter flyby and first Saturn flyby
1973: USA: Mariner 10: First flyby of Mercury, obtained Venus data en route
1975: USSR: Venera 9: Data from surface of Venus and from orbiter
1975: USSR: Venera 10: Data from surface of Venus and from orbiter
1975: USA: Viking 1: First soft landing on Mars, also Mars orbiter
1975: USA: Viking 2: Second soft landing on Mars, also Mars orbiter
1977: USA: Voyager 1: Flybys of Jupiter, Saturn , Titan
1977: USA: Voyager 2: Grand your flybys of Jupiter, Saturn , Uranus, Neptune
1978: USA: Pioneer Venus Orbiter: First radar mapping of Venus from orbit
1978: USA: Pioneer Venus Probe Carrier: Atmospheric composition, radiation balance, cloud particle characteristics from four entry probes
1978: USSR: Venera 11: Atmospheric and cloud composition of Venus, surface studies
1978: USSR: Venera 12: Atmospheric and cloud composition of Venus, surface studies
1981: USSR: Venera 13: Venus atmosphere and surface studies: detection of lightning discharges
1981: USSR : Venera 14: Venus atmosphere and surface studies: detection of lightning discharges
1983: USSR: Venera 15: Orbiting radar mapping of Venus surface topography
1983: USSR: Venera 16: Orbiting radar mapping of Venus surface topography
1984: USSR: VEGA 1: Venus flyby, descent probe landing, balloon deployment
1984: USSR: VEGA 2: Closest to Halley nucleus, imaging
1989: USA: Magellan: Orbital radar mapping of Venus
1989: USA: Galileo: Flybys of Moon, Venus, and asteroids Gaspra and Ida, jovian orbital tour
1990: Hubble Telescope
1997 - Mars Global Surveyor - Maps Mars
1997 - Mars rover Pathfinder and Sojourner
1998 - The International Space Station is an international effort bringing people from different countries together. Its main construction was completed between 1998 and 2011
February 12, 2001- First Landing on an Asteroid
February 14, 2001 - 100th U.S. Spacewalk
March 11, 2001 - New Space Walk Record
April 28, 2001 - First Tourist in Space
February 1, 2003 - Space Shuttle - Columbia Disaster
February 1, 2003 - President Bush's - Columbia Speech
October 15, 2003 - First Chinese Manned Spaceflight
January 3, 2004 - Spirit Rover Lands on Mars
January 25, 2004 - Opportunity Rover Lands on Mars
June 21, 2004 - First Manned Private Space Flight
2004 - Venture Star - Next generation reusable spacecraft - Fixed the tanks for spacecraft.
July 1, 2004 - Cassini Probe Arrives at Saturn
October 5, 2004 - X PRIZE Awarded
January 14, 2005 - First Landing on an Alien Moon
July 4, 2005 - First Impact With a Comet
July 26, 2005 - Space Shuttle Returns to Flight
January 15, 2006 - First Comet Samples Returned to Earth
2006 - Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
March 6, 2009 - The Hunt for Extrasolar Planets
December 8, 2010 - First Commercial Orbit and Return
March 18, 2011 - First Spacecraft to Orbit Mercury
July 8, 2011 - Final Flight of the Space Shuttle Program
July 18, 2011 - Largest Space Telescope Launched
July 16, 2011 - First Spacecraft to Orbit an Asteroid
May 22, 2012 - First ISS Commercial Supply Mission
August 6, 2012 - Curiosity Rover Lands on Mars
August 25, 2012 - First Man-made Spacecraft in Interstellar Space
October 14, 2012 - First Skydive Jump to Break the Sound Barrier
August 6, 2014 - First Spacecraft to Orbit a Comet
November 12, 2014 - First Spacecraft to Land on a Comet
March 6, 2015 - First Spacecraft to Orbit a Dwarf Planet
July 14, 2015 - First Spacecraft to Reach Pluto
August 10, 2015 - First Food Grown in Space and Eaten
December 21, 2015 - First Propulsive Landing of an Orbital Rocket
2015 - Detected gravitational waves
September 21, 2018 - First Operational Rover on an Asteroid
January 3, 2018 - First Soft Landing on the Far Side of the Moon
2018 - Mars Insight Lander
April 10, 2019 - First Image of a Black Hole
January 3, 2018 - First Seeds Germinated on Another Celestial Body
2019 - SpaceX Starlink
January 7, 2020 - First Food Baked in Space
May 30, 2020 - First Commercial Manned Space Mission
2021 - Mars rover and Ingenuity Helicopter
2021 - Virgin Galactic, Blue Origin, Space X space launches
2021 - James Web Telescope
2022 - SLS Artemis moon mission launch
2023 - Psyche mission to asteroid Pysche 16
2023 - Starship Launch
2023 - Siena Galaxy Atlas
2024 - Amazon Project Kupier
2025 - Hubble Network - bluetooth network satellite - 600 km
2026 - Starlink hits 10 million users
2026 - Artemis moon mission
2026 - Amazon Project Leo
2026 - AST SpaceMobile Blue Walker satellites
2026 - SpaceX reaches $1 trillion
2026 - The Largest 3D Map of the Universe. DESI map covers more than 47 million galaxies and quasars and 20 million stars over 11 billion years of cosmic history. That also represents six times as much data as all previous measurements combined.