This is a list of all crewed spacecraft types that have flown into space, including sub-orbital flights above 80 km, space stations that have been visited by at least one crew member, and spacecraft currently planned to operate with crews in the future.[1] It does not contain crewed flights by spacecraft below 80 km. There is some debate concerning the height at which space is reached (theKarman Line): theFédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) recognizes 100 km, whileNASA and theUSAF recognize this as 50 miles (approx 80 km).[2]
Since the first crewed spaceflight ofVostok 1 in 1961 there have been 13 types of spacecraft that have made crewed flights into space – nine American, three Russian, and one Chinese. There are currently five operational crewed spacecraft, which form the first part of the list below; the eight retired spacecraft types are listed in the next section; and crewed spacecraft currently in development are listed last. Space stations are listed beneath each appropriate section, dates of operation reflect when the first and last crews visited, not when they were launched and deorbited. There are currently two space stations in orbit around Earth, theInternational Space Station and the ChineseTiangong space station.
Manned spacecraft are designed to support human life for the human spaceflight portion of the mission. Spacecraft for human spaceflight must have ahuman-rating certification as fit for purpose. Manned spacecraft must have a pressurized, breathable atmosphere (usually between 345mbar and 1 bar (1atmosphere)) and be temperature-regulated (usually 20 to 24 °C (68 to 75 °F)). Manned spacecraft includespace capsules,spaceplanes, andspace stations.
Russian three person Earth orbital spacecraft;[3] Early versions were operated by theSoviet Union and later versions byRussia after 1991.Soyuz has completed over 150 crewed spaceflights, including two emergency sub-orbital flights:Soyuz 18a andSoyuz MS-10. There have been two spacecraft losses resulting in the deaths of four cosmonauts,Soyuz 1 andSoyuz 11. Soyuz is the only spacecraft to have successfully saved the lives of a crew using the rocketlaunch escape system, when in 1983Soyuz T-10-1 exploded on the launchpad. This spacecraft type has flown into space more times than any other spacecraft.[4]
Chinese three-person Earth orbital spacecraft. Shenzhou isChina's first crewed spacecraft. On 15 October 2003,Yang Liwei was carried into space byShenzhou 5 becoming China's firstTaikonaut.[5] The spacecraft has gone on to fly crews to China'sTiangong-1 andTiangong-2 space labs. Since Jun 2021, Shenzhou has been used as the vehicle to send crews to China's new modularTiangong space station and back.[6] As of December 2023, Shenzhou has made 12 successful crewed spaceflights.
United States four-person (initially seven) Earth orbital spacecraft designed bySpaceX to transport astronauts to theInternational Space Station under theNASACommercial Crew Contract (CCDev). As of April 2025, Crew Dragon has made 17 crewed spaceflights. The first crewed flight,Crew Dragon Demo-2, launched on 30 May 2020 and returned to Earth on 2 August 2020. This was the first time an American spacecraft had sent astronauts to orbit since the final Space Shuttle flight in July 2011.[7] The first operational flight of the Crew Dragon launched on 15 November 2020 withSpaceX Crew-1.
New Shepard is a six-person capsule for suborbital space tourism in theUnited States. It is launched by a reusable booster and can fly with or without crew. Uncrewed flights started in 2015. The first crewed test flight flew on 20 July 2021.[8] As of December 2023 there have been 24 flights, including six crewed flights carrying a total of 32 passengers into space.
The Boeing CST-100 Starliner is a United States five-person (initially seven) Earth orbital spacecraft designed to transport astronauts to theInternational Space Station under theNASACommercial Crew Program. Following several technical problems 1 on thefirst uncrewed test flight in December 2019, asecond uncrewed test flight launched in May 2022. The followingcrewed flight test (CFT) launched in June 2024, carrying astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore to the International Space Station. After experiencing thruster issues during its approach and docking, the astronauts successfully completed their mission at the ISS and departed the station. Due to ongoing assessments and mission adjustments, the Starliner landed uncrewed. The Crew-9 mission, carrying astronauts Nick Hague, Suni Williams, Butch Wilmore, and cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Florida on March 18, 2025. This landing marked the end of a long space saga for Williams and Wilmore, who arrived at the ISS aboard the Starliner.[9][10][11]
Multinationallow Earth orbit modular space station. The International Space Station is a joint project among five participating space agencies:NASA,Roscosmos,JAXA,European Space Agency (ESA), andCanadian Space Agency (CSA).[12] Following the uncrewed initial assembly from 1998 to 2000, it has been continuously crewed since November 2000. As of 4 March 2024, ISS has been visited by 111 crewed spacecraft (68 Soyuz, 35 Space Shuttle, and 9 Crew Dragon). The ISS is the largest space station yet constructed. It is planned to operate until 2028, with a possible extension to 2030.[13]
Chinese low Earth orbit modular space station. TheTianhe core module was launched on 29 April 2021. The first crewed flightShenzhou 12 with 3 astronauts arrived at the station in June 2021. The space station has three modules: theTianhe core module, and twoLaboratory Cabin Modules. TheWentian module docked with the station on 24 July 2022, and theMengtian module docked on 31 October 2022.
Soviet single-person Earth orbital spacecraft 6 flights.[14] On 12 April 1961Vostok 1 carried the first human into space,CosmonautYuri Gagarin.[15] On 16 June 1963,Vostok 6 carried the first woman into space, CosmonautValentina Tereshkova.[16]
United States single-person Earth orbital spacecraft 6 flights (including 2 sub-orbital).[17]Mercury was the United States first crewed spacecraft. On 5 May 1961Mercury-Redstone 3 carried the first American,Alan Shepard, into space on a sub-orbital flight. On 20 February 1962,Mercury-Atlas 6 carried the first American,John Glenn, into Earth orbit.[18]
United States single seat, air-launched sub-orbital spaceplane; two X-15 flights above the 100 kmKármán line occurred in 1963, an additional 11 flights between 1962 and 1968 reached altitudes between 80 and 100 km which were recognized as spaceflights by U.S. authorities.[19]
Soviet three person Vostok derivative made 2 flights.[20] On 18 March 1965,Alexei Leonov performed the firstspacewalk in history, fromVoskhod 2.[21]
United States two person Earth orbital spacecraft which made 10 flights.[22] On 3 June 1965,Ed White made America's firstspacewalk duringGemini 4.[23]
United States three-person lunar-capable spacecraft. 15 flights; including nine lunar missions (with six lunar landings). It was theApollo spacecraft that enabled America to win theSpace Race. In December 1968,Apollo 8 was the first crewed spacecraft to orbit the Moon. On 21 July 1969,Neil Armstrong, the Commander ofApollo 11, andBuzz Aldrin became the first men to walk on the Moon.[24] The Apollo Spacecraft comprised:
United States eight person Earth orbital spacecraft; first orbit-capablespaceplane; first reusable orbital spacecraft. Largest cargo capacity to orbit at the time. 135 spaceflights were made in six shuttles;Enterprise,Columbia,Challenger,Discovery,Atlantis, andEndeavour, of which two (Challenger andColumbia) were destroyed resulting in the deaths of 14 astronauts during missionsSTS-51-L andSTS-107.[27]
United States privately-developed single pilot, air-launched sub-orbital spaceplane; three flights above theKármán line occurred in 2004.
United States eight person air-launched sub-orbital space plane operated byVirgin Galactic aimed at thespace tourism market. On 31 October 2014 during a test flight,VSSEnterprise, the first SpaceShipTwo craft,broke up in flight and crashed in theMojave Desert.[29][30][31][32] One pilot was killed.[33][34] The second SpaceShipTwo craft,VSSUnity, was completed in 2016 and used until its retirement in 2024.[35] On 13 December 2018, SpaceShipTwo flew to an altitude of 82.7 km, which is recognized as space by theFAA,NASA, and theUSAF (although not theFédération Aéronautique Internationale).[36] This was the first time an American spacecraft had sent astronauts to space since the final Space Shuttle flight in 2011. On 11 July 2021 a fourth test flight was made above 80 km with six crew aboard, including the company ownerRichard Branson.[37] SpaceShipTwo made 12 successful crewed spaceflights in 13 attempts. The last flight of VSSUnity took place on 8 June 2024, marking the spacecraft's retirement.
Soviet/Russianlow Earth orbit space stations.[38]Salyut 1 (1 crew 1971),Salyut 4 (2 crews 1975),Salyut 6 (6 crews 1977–1981), andSalyut 7 (12 crews 1982–1986). All now de-orbited.[39]
Soviet military reconnaissance low Earth orbit space stations. Badged asSalyut 3 (1 crew 1974), andSalyut 5 (2 crews 1976–1977), as disinformation. Both now deorbited.[39]
United States low Earth orbit space station. First United States space station. Visited by 3 crews 1973–1974. It deorbited in 1979.[40]
Soviet/Russian low Earth orbit modular space station. The first modular space station in history. Twenty-eight crews 1986–2000.Mir was visited by 29 Soyuz and 7 Space Shuttle missions. Mir was deorbited in 2001.[41]
Chinese low Earth orbit space laboratories.Tiangong 1 was China's first space station; launched in 2011, visited by two crews 2012–2013, deorbited in 2018.Tiangong 2 was launched in 2016, visited by one crew in 2016, deorbited in 2019. Both vehicles were single-module laboratories, precursors to the modularTiangong space station, which has modules derived from Tiangong 1 and 2.
A spacecraft capable of lunar missions with a crew of four, planned to be used as part ofNASA'sArtemis program. Consisting of two components – a Crew Module (CM) manufactured byLockheed Martin, and aEuropean Service Module (ESM) manufactured byAirbus Defence and Space – the spacecraft are designed to support crewed exploration beyondlow Earth orbit. Orion is equipped withsolar power, anautomated docking system, andglass cockpit interfaces modeled after those used in theBoeing 787 Dreamliner, and can support a crew of six in low Earth orbit and a crew of four in lunar orbit, up to 21 days undocked and up to six months docked. A singleAJ10 engine provides the spacecraft's primary propulsion, while eightR-4D-11 engines and six pods of customreaction control system (RCS) engines developed byAirbus provide the spacecraft's secondary propulsion. Although compatible with otherlaunch vehicles, Orion is primarily designed to launch atop theSpace Launch System (SLS) rocket. The first mission on that flew a fully configured Orion spacecraft and service module wasArtemis I. This flight, however, was not a crewed mission and served the purpose of testing the systems of the spacecraft in the environment it was designed for. The first crewed missionArtemis II is planned for 2026 and will slingshot around the Moon. The following crewedArtemis III flight is planned for 2027 and will be a lunar landing mission.
Planned to be a fully reusable interplanetary spacecraft capable of carrying 100 passengers or cargo. Primarily designed forMars missions it is to be capable of landing on all rocky planets or moons in theSolar System exceptVenus.[42] ForEarth launches Starship will need a two-stage configuration with the addition of a powerful first stage booster called Super-Heavy. Flights from all other planetary bodies will not require a first stage booster. Starship will require refuelling in Earth orbit to enable it to reach other Solar System destinations.[43][44] Uncrewed test flights commenced in 2020 from Boca Chica, Texas. A custom crewed lunar version of Starship—Starship HLS—was selected in 2021 from three companies that developed design proposals for NASA'sHuman Landing System forNASA'sArtemis program, with a view to land one uncrewed mission plus one crewed mission on the Moon no earlier than 2025.[45][46] SpaceX plans at least six variants of Starship, two of them intended to carry crew: Cargo flights, crewed flights (except HLS), a fuel depot,[47] a tanker version, expendable starships, and HLS.
A three-person Earth orbital spacecraft intended to be the first crewed spacecraft of theIndian Human Spaceflight Programme. Gaganyaan will be capable of operating atlow Earth orbit for up to seven days. The upgraded version will be equipped with rendezvous and docking capabilities. Its first crewed flight is planned for first quarter of 2027, and four Indian astronauts have begun flight training in Russia.[48]
The Mengzhou spacecraft, developed by the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp. (CASC) is a six-person, partially reusable lunar-capable spacecraft, aiming to succeed theShenzhou.
An uncrewed test flight took place on 5 May 2020, with a crewed flight tolow earth orbit possible by 2027 using a two-stage variant of the under-developmentLong March 10 rocket.[49] Lunar missions by the new spacecraft are expected in the 2030s with an initial lunar mission possible by 2030.[49][50]
A new Chinese crewed lunar lander calledLanyue is also currently under-development by theChina Academy of Space Technology.[49]
United States seven-person Earth orbital space plane.[51] An uncrewed cargo version is scheduled to fly in space in 2025, with a crewed version to eventually follow.[52]
Russian four-person lunar-capable spacecraft to enable the retirement of Soyuz. The first uncrewed and crewed flight is planned for 2028.[53][54]
Spacecraft
Space Stations
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This article incorporates text from this source, which is in thepublic domain. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in thepublic domain. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in thepublic domain. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in thepublic domain.Starship is the spaceship/upper stage and Super Heavy is the rocket booster needed to escape Earth's deep gravity well (not needed for other planets or moons).
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