Space Exploration History: A Complete Timeline

Space exploration is humanity's organised effort to travel beyond Earth's atmosphere using spacecraft, satellites, and robotic probes to study the universe. It…

Soviet Union Launches Sputnik 1, Earth's First Artificial Satellite

On 4 October 1957, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik 1 aboard an R-7 intercontinental ballistic missile, placing a 83.6-kilogram aluminium sphere into low Earth orbit. I…

Yuri Gagarin Becomes the First Human to Orbit Earth

Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin launched aboard Vostok 1 on 12 April 1961 and completed a single orbit of Earth in 108 minutes before safely parachuting to the ground in R…

Apollo 11 Achieves the First Crewed Moon Landing at the Sea of Tranquillity

On 20 July 1969, NASA's Apollo 11 lunar module Eagle touched down on the Moon's Sea of Tranquillity at 20:17 UTC, carrying astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin whil…

ISRO Launches Aryabhata, India's First Indigenous Satellite

On 19 April 1975, India's first satellite, Aryabhata — named after the fifth-century Indian mathematician and astronomer — was launched aboard a Soviet Kosmos-3M rocket…

NASA Launches Voyager 1 on an Interstellar Grand Tour of the Outer Solar System

NASA launched Voyager 1 on 5 September 1977, following its twin Voyager 2 by sixteen days, to conduct a grand tour of the outer solar system. The spacecraft flew past Ju…

NASA Deploys the Hubble Space Telescope, Revolutionising Deep Space Astronomy

The Hubble Space Telescope was deployed by Space Shuttle Discovery on 24 April 1990 into a 547-kilometre orbit, becoming the first large optical telescope placed above E…

ISRO's Chandrayaan-1 Discovers Water Molecules on the Moon

Launched on 22 October 2008 from Sriharikota, Chandrayaan-1 became India's first lunar probe and made a discovery that reshaped planetary science: on 14 November 2008, i…

NASA's Curiosity Rover Successfully Lands on Mars Using Sky Crane Manoeuvre

On 6 August 2012, NASA's Curiosity rover touched down in Mars' Gale Crater using a novel 'sky crane' descent system — a rocket-powered hovering platform that lowered the…

ISRO's Mangalyaan Enters Mars Orbit on Its First Attempt

On 24 September 2014, ISRO's Mars Orbiter Mission — popularly called Mangalyaan — successfully entered Martian orbit, making India the first Asian nation and only the fo…

James Webb Space Telescope Launches, Offering Deepest Ever View of the Cosmos

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) launched on 25 December 2021 from Kourou, French Guiana, representing a 25-year, approximately US$10 billion collaborative effort b…

Chandrayaan-3 Makes India the First Nation to Land Near the Lunar South Pole

On 23 August 2023, ISRO's Chandrayaan-3 lander Vikram touched down at approximately 69 degrees south latitude, making India the first country to successfully land a spac…