World Space Week, observed annually from October 4 to 10, celebrates the contribution of space science and technology to humanity. The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) declared the week-long observance in 1999, with the dates marking two major milestones in space history.
His mission demonstrated that humans could survive launch, weightlessness and re-entry, giving the Soviet Union a major victory during the Cold War-era Space Race. Neil Armstrong became the first person to walk on the lunar surface. The US and Russia remain far ahead of other countries in terms of the number of people they have sent to space.
October 4, 1957, marks the launch of Sputnik 1, the first human-made Earth satellite. October 10, 1967, commemorates the signing of the Outer Space Treaty, which established principles for the peaceful exploration and use of outer space. Today, more than 80 countries have successfully placed satellites in orbit, while people from more than 50 countries have travelled to space, according to a report by Al Jazeera. At least 746 people from 52 countries have crossed the recognised boundary of space, ranging from career astronauts and cosmonauts to paying space tourists. The first human to travel to space was Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, who completed a 108-minute flight aboard Vostok 1 on April 12, 1961. The US followed with its own human spaceflight programme, eventually achieving another historic milestone when NASA’s Apollo 11 mission landed humans on the Moon in July 1969. The US has sent 369 people to space, while the Soviet Union and Russia have sent a combined 138. China, which became the third country to independently launch humans into space, has sent 29 people. (Also Read: Shubhanshu Shukla shows how astronauts freshen up in space: ‘There are no showers up here’ ) More than four decades later, Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla became the first Indian to travel to the International Space Station. In June 2025, he flew aboard Axiom Mission 4, contributing data and research for India’s future human spaceflight missions.
