| 1957 | Launch of Sputnik 1 | The first human-made object to orbit the Earth, marking the start of the space age. |
| 1961 | First human in space | Soviet astronaut Yuri Gagarin became the first person to orbit Earth. |
| 1963 | First Woman in space | Valentina Tereshkova, also a Soviet astronaut, became the first woman in space. |
| 1969 | Apollo 11 Moon landing | American astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first humans to set foot on the Moon. |
| 1971 | First space station | The Soviet Union launched Salyut 1, the first space station. |
| 1972 | Pioneer 10, first Jupiter flyby | Pioneer 10 becames the first spacecraft to traverse the asteroid belt and perform a flyby of Jupiter. |
| 1976 | Viking 1 Mars landing | The US succesfully lands Viking 1 on Mars, performing the first successful landing and performing a lengthy mission. |
| 1981 | First launch of Space Shuttle | NASA’s Space Shuttle, the world’s first reusable spacecraft, makes its maiden voyage. |
| 1998 | International Space Station | The first module of the ISS is launched, establishing a permanent human presence in space. |
| 2004 | SpaceShipOne, first commercial human spaceflight | The privately funded SpaceShipOne makes the first commercial human spaceflight. |
| 2012 | Curiosity Rover landing on Mars | NASA’s Curiosity rover lands on Mars, starting its mission to investigate Martian climate and geology. |
| 2015 | First successful landing of a reusable rocket | SpaceX’s Falcon 9 makes a successful vertical landing, ushering in the era of reusable rockets. |
| 2020 | First commercial flight to the ISS | SpaceX’s Crew Dragon becomes the first commercial spacecraft to deliver astronauts to the ISS. |
