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Countries (and successor states) whose citizens have flown in space as of January 2024.

The criteria for determining who has achieved human spaceflight vary. The Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) defines spaceflight as any flight over 100 kilometres (62 mi), while in the United States, professional, military and commercial astronauts who travel above an altitude of 50 miles (80 km) are awarded astronaut wings. The majority of people who have flown into space have done so by entering Earth orbit. This list includes people meeting all three criteria, in separate subdivisions.

The flags indicate the space traveler's nationality at the time of their flight. In cases of dual citizenship, the space traveler is listed under their primary residence. A secondary list appended to the entry for the Soviet Union shows the birth countries of space travelers not born in Russia. A similar list after the entry for the United States shows the birth countries of space travelers who were citizens of the US but were born elsewhere. Flags shown in the secondary lists are those in use at the time of the space travelers' birth.

Names in italic are space travelers who are not part of any national astronaut program or astronaut corps ( Toyohiro Akiyama, Helen Sharman, the Space Adventures customers and the sub-orbital SpaceShipOne and Blue Origin pilots).

Statistics

As of February 2024, people from 47 countries have traveled in space. [1] As of February 2024 644 have reached the altitude of space according to the FAI definition of the boundary of space, [2] and as of February 2024 681 people have reached the altitude of space according to the USAF definition and 610 people have reached Earth orbit. [3] 24 people have traveled beyond low Earth orbit and either circled, orbited, or walked on the Moon.

Of the 44 countries whose citizens have traveled into Earth orbit, 25 have flown a single space traveler, and four others (Belgium, Bulgaria, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom) have flown two each. 94% of all space travelers have been contributed by the following eight nations:

Men (blue) and women (red) in space by nationality (as of February 2024) [4]
  United States
  
  
319♂
60♀️
---
  Russia1
  
  
122♂
6♀️
---
  China
  
  
20♂
2♀️
---
  Japan
  
  
12♂
2♀️
---
  Germany2,3
  
  
12♂
0♀️
---
  France2
  
  
9♂
1♀️
---
  Canada
  
  
9♂
2♀️
---
  Italy2
  
  
8♂
1♀️
---
- Other countries
  
  
43♂
3♀️
---
All countries
  
  
547♂
77♀️
---

1 Includes 70 ♂ and 2 ♀️ Soviet cosmonauts.
2 Includes both national space programme activity and European Space Agency participation.
3 Includes astronauts from the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic.

Suborbital space fliers

Fliers marked with an asterisk flew into the upper atmosphere between 80 and 100 kilometres (50 and 62 mi), which counts as space flight by United States guidelines. Those without flew above 100 kilometres (62 mi), which counts as a space flight by Fédération Aéronautique Internationale guidelines.

Antigua and Barbuda

Austria

Australia

Brazil

Canada

Egypt

Italy

Pakistan

Portugal

South Africa

The Netherlands

Ukraine

Union of Soviet Socialist Republics

The Soviet Union never launched a spaceflight intended as suborbital. The following people were launched aboard Soyuz 7K-T No.39 (also Soyuz 18a), which was intended as orbital, but aborted before reaching orbit. [6]

United States

United Kingdom

Dual Citizens

Additionally, Hamish Harding was a dual national British and UAE and Vanessa O'Brien is a dual national American and British. Both chose to fly the British flag on their respective Blue Origin flights. [9] But, Timothy Nash who is a dual national South African and British but flew under both flags. Similarly, Lina Borozdina flew under both Ukraine and US flags due to her dual citizenship.

Orbital space travelers

Afghanistan

Australia

Belarus

Brazil

Bulgaria

Canada

China

Cuba

Czechoslovakia


European Space Agency members

Some of these astronauts participated in national space programme activity unrelated to their home country's contemporary or subsequent membership of the European Space Agency.

Austria

Belgium

Denmark

France

Germany

Italy

Netherlands

Poland

Romania

Spain

Sweden

( Jessica Meir, who went on Soyuz MS-15 in 2019, is listed under United States but also holds a Swedish passport.)

Switzerland

United Kingdom

Additionally, Michael Foale was born in England to a British father and American mother. He is a dual citizen of the United Kingdom and the United States, and was raised and educated in England. He flew as a member of NASA's Astronaut Corps with dual British American citizenship. [11] Piers Sellers, Nicholas Patrick, Richard Garriott, Marcus Wandt and Mark Shuttleworth have dual nationalities.


Hungary

India

Israel

Japan

Kazakhstan

Malaysia

Mexico

Mongolia

Russia and the Soviet Union

The Soviet space program came under the control of the Russian Federation in December 1991; the new program, now called the Russian Federal Space Agency, retained continuity of equipment and personnel with the Soviet program. While all Soviet and RKA cosmonauts were born within the borders of the USSR, many were born outside the boundaries of Russia, and may be claimed by other Soviet successor states as nationals of those states. These cosmonauts are marked with an asterisk * and their place of birth is shown in an appended list. All, however, claimed Soviet or Russian citizenship at the time of their space flights.

A

B

C

D

F

G

I

K

L

M

N

O

P

R

S

T

U

V

Y

Z

Soviet and Russian cosmonauts born outside Russia

All of the locations below were part of the former USSR at the time of the cosmonauts' birth.

Azerbaijan SSR / Azerbaijan
Byelorussian SSR / Belarus
Georgian SSR / Georgia
Kazakh SSR / Kazakhstan
Kirghiz SSR / Kyrgyzstan
Latvian SSR / Latvia
Turkmen SSR / Turkmenistan
Ukrainian SSR / Ukraine
Uzbek SSR / Uzbekistan

Saudi Arabia

Slovakia

South Africa

South Korea

Syria

Turkey

Ukraine

United Arab Emirates

United States

* Asterisked space travelers were born outside the United States

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

M

N

O

P

R

S

T

V

W

Y

Z

Americans born abroad

  1. William Anders, born in Hong Kong to American parents.
  2. Canada Gregory Chamitoff, born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
  3. Italy Michael Collins, born in Rome, Italy to American parents.
  4. United Kingdom Richard Garriott, born in Cambridge, England.
  5. United Kingdom Gregory H. Johnson, born in South Ruislip, England.
  6. Panama Frederick W. Leslie, born in Ancón, Panama Canal Zone (now Panama).
  7. Taiwan Kjell N. Lindgren, born in Taipei, Taiwan.
  8. China Shannon Lucid ♀, born in Shanghai, China (then under Japanese rule) to American parents.
  9. Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands James H. Newman, born in the United Nations Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands (now Micronesia).
  10. West Germany Jasmin Moghbeli, born in Bad Nauheim, West Germany.

Naturalized Americans

  1. Iran Anousheh Ansari ♀, born in Mashhad, Iran. First Iranian-American in space. Fourth space tourist and first female space tourist.
  2. Costa Rica Franklin Chang-Diaz, born in San José, Costa Rica. First Costa Rican-American in space.
  3. India Kalpana Chawla ♀, born in Karnal, India. First Indian-American in space.
  4. United Kingdom Michael Foale, born in Louth, England, dual British and American citizen.
  5. Spain Michael Lopez-Alegria, born in Madrid, Spain.
  6. Peru Carlos I. Noriega, born in Lima, Peru. First Peruvian-born person in space.
  7. United Kingdom Nicholas Patrick, born in Saltburn-by-the-Sea, England, dual UK-US citizen.
  8. Australia Paul Scully-Power, born in Sydney, Australia.
  9. United Kingdom Piers Sellers, born in Crowborough, England, dual UK-US citizen.
  10. Hungary Charles Simonyi, born in Budapest, Hungary. Fifth space tourist.
  11. Australia Andrew Thomas, born in Adelaide, Australia.
  12. South Vietnam Eugene Trinh, born in Saigon, State of Vietnam (now Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam). First Vietnamese-American in space.
  13. Netherlands Lodewijk van den Berg, born in Sluiskil, the Netherlands.
  14. China Taylor Wang, born in Shanghai, China. First Chinese American in space.

Vietnam

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Other Wikipedia articles count Anousheh Ansari as an Iranian-American dual citizen; they may also consider Russia and the Soviet Union, or East, West, and even united Germany as distinct countries, resulting in counts of 40 or more countries.
  2. ^ "International Astronaut Database". Aerospace Security. 2022-07-05. Retrieved 2023-08-09.
  3. ^ "Astronaut/Cosmonaut Statistics". World Space Flight. 2023-06-15. Retrieved 2023-08-09.
  4. ^ "Astronaut/Cosmonaut Statistics - More". World Space Flight. 2024-02-19. Retrieved 2024-02-19.
  5. ^ "Core memory unlocked. Welcome to space, #Galactic03. Congratulations, 014, 015, and 016!". X (formerly Twitter). Retrieved 2023-09-08.
  6. ^ "Soyuz 18-1". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Archived from the original on February 6, 2002. Retrieved July 27, 2014.
  7. ^ "Core memory unlocked. Welcome to space, #Galactic03. Congratulations, 014, 015, and 016!". X (formerly Twitter). Retrieved 2023-09-08.
  8. ^ "Core memory unlocked. Welcome to space, #Galactic03. Congratulations, 014, 015, and 016!". X (formerly Twitter). Retrieved 2023-09-08.
  9. ^ "Dubai resident Hamish Harding to fly into space on Blue Origin's mission on May 20". Daily Guardian. Retrieved 17 May 2022.
  10. ^ EVA-22: Cassidy and Parmitano complete ISS spacewalk July 9, 2013
  11. ^ "Astronaut Michael Foale retires from Nasa". BBC News. 10 August 2013. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
  12. ^ Akopian, Aram (2001). Armenians and the World: Yesterday and Today. Yerevan: Noyan Tapan. p. 61. ISBN  9789993051299. James Bagian, an engineer and physician, is the first, but surely not the last, Armenian astronaut.

*Due to the rise of space tourism (predominately done through private companies, such as but not limited to: Space X and Virgin) this list may change or may become outdated .