Created by Ajay Kumar
Last edited August 24, 2023


Countries (and successor states) whose citizens have flown in space as of September 2019.

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 80 kilometres (50 mi) 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[edit | edit source]

As of May 2022, people from 44 countries have traveled in space.[1] As of July 2022 570 have reached the altitude of space according to the FAI definition of the boundary of space,[2] and as of June 2023 656 people have reached the altitude of space according to the USAF definition and 602 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:

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[edit | edit source]

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[edit | edit source]

Australia[edit | edit source]

Brazil[edit | edit source]

Canada[edit | edit source]

Egypt[edit | edit source]

Italy[edit | edit source]

Portugal[edit | edit source]

Union of Soviet Socialist Republics[edit | edit source]

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.[5]

United States[edit | edit source]

The Netherlands[edit | edit source]

United Kingdom[edit | edit source]

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.[6]

Orbital space travelers[edit | edit source]

Afghanistan[edit | edit source]

Australia[edit | edit source]

Brazil[edit | edit source]

Bulgaria[edit | edit source]

Canada[edit | edit source]

China[edit | edit source]

Cuba[edit | edit source]

Czechoslovakia[edit | edit source]


European Space Agency members[edit | edit source]

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[edit | edit source]

Belgium[edit | edit source]

Denmark[edit | edit source]

France[edit | edit source]

Germany[edit | edit source]

Italy[edit | edit source]

Netherlands[edit | edit source]

Poland[edit | edit source]

Romania[edit | edit source]

Spain[edit | edit source]

Sweden[edit | edit source]

Switzerland[edit | edit source]

United Kingdom[edit | edit source]

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.[8] Gregory H. Johnson has foreign (US) citizenship, having been born in the UK to American parents, while Piers Sellers, Nicholas Patrick, Richard Garriott and Mark Shuttleworth have dual nationalities.


Hungary[edit | edit source]

India[edit | edit source]

Israel[edit | edit source]

Japan[edit | edit source]

Kazakhstan[edit | edit source]

Malaysia[edit | edit source]

Mexico[edit | edit source]

Mongolia[edit | edit source]

Poland[edit | edit source]

Russia and the Soviet Union[edit | edit source]

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.

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Soviet and Russian cosmonauts born outside Russia[edit | edit source]

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

Azerbaijan SSR / Azerbaijan[edit | edit source]
Byelorussian SSR / Belarus[edit | edit source]
Georgian SSR / Georgia[edit | edit source]
Kazakh SSR / Kazakhstan[edit | edit source]
Kirghiz SSR / Kyrgyzstan[edit | edit source]
Latvian SSR / Latvia[edit | edit source]
Turkmen SSR / Turkmenistan[edit | edit source]
Ukrainian SSR / Ukraine[edit | edit source]
Uzbek SSR / Uzbekistan[edit | edit source]

Saudi Arabia[edit | edit source]

Slovakia[edit | edit source]

South Africa[edit | edit source]

South Korea[edit | edit source]

Syria[edit | edit source]

Ukraine[edit | edit source]

United Arab Emirates[edit | edit source]

United States[edit | edit source]

* Asterisked space travelers were born outside the United States

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Americans born abroad[edit | edit source]

  1. File:Flag of Hong Kong 1959.svg 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. Template:Country data Trust Territory of the Pacific IslandsTemplate:Preview warning James H. Newman, born in the United Nations Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands (now Micronesia).

Naturalized Americans[edit | edit source]

  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[edit | edit source]

See also[edit | edit source]

Notes[edit | edit source]

  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. 2023-06-15. Retrieved 2023-08-09.
  5. "Soyuz 18-1". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Archived from the original on February 6, 2002. Retrieved July 27, 2014.
  6. "Dubai resident Hamish Harding to fly into space on Blue Origin's mission on May 20". Daily Guardian. Retrieved 17 May 2022.
  7. EVA-22: Cassidy and Parmitano complete ISS spacewalk July 9, 2013
  8. "Astronaut Michael Foale retires from Nasa". BBC News. 10 August 2013. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
  9. 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 .Template:Space exploration lists and timelines

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