Timeline of space travel by nationality
Since the first human spaceflight by the Soviet Union, citizens of 47 countries have flown in space. For each nationality, the launch date of the first mission is listed. The list is based on the nationality of the person at the time of the launch. Only 7 of 48 countries have been represented by female "first flyers". Only three nations have launched their own crewed spacecraft, with the Soviets/Russians and the American programs providing rides to other nations' astronauts. Twenty-eight "first flights" occurred on Soviet or Russian flights while the United States carried eighteen.
The Soviet Union's Yuri Gagarin, the first person in space (1961)
Alan Shepard from the United States of America, the second nation to send a person into space (1961)
Vladimír Remek of Czechoslovakia, the first Czechoslovak national in space (1978)
Mirosław Hermaszewski of Poland, the first Polish national in space (1978)
Yi So-yeon is a South Korean astronaut and biotechnologist who became the first Korean to fly in space.
Yi So-yeon
Yi So-yeon and Ko San participate in a space station hardware training session in the Space Vehicle Mockup Facility at the Johnson Space Center by Crew Systems instructor Glenn Johnson.
Yi So-yeon with NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson (right), Expedition 16 commander, and Russian Federal Space Agency cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko (middle), flight engineer, at the International Space Station.
