Orbital Human Space Launch Archives

ESA Sending Heroic, Fictional Sheep Aboard Artemis I

NASA says its Artemis I flight set to launch as soon as late August will be an uncrewed lunar fly-by. The Paris-based European Space Agency would beg to differ. Shaun is leaving the happy confines of Mossy Bottom Farm to lead the flight around the Moon, an agency press release announced.

2017 – Orbital Human Space Launch

During 2017, Russia was the only nation that launched humans into orbit. Russia continued providing its service, ferrying passengers to the International Space Station (ISS). Of the…

2017 – Russia Human Launch – Snapshot

Russia remained the only nation to launch humans to orbit during 2017, using its Soyuz launch vehicle and capsule. The continued depression of Russian launch activity during…

2017 – U.S. Human Launch – Snapshot

The last U.S. human space launch was conducted in 2011. NASA now relies on Russia’s Soyuz space launch system, paying hundreds of millions of dollars to transport U.S. astronauts to…

2016 – Orbital Human Space Launch – Snapshot

The 52 years since the inauguration of human spaceflight have witnessed great strides in developing the technology required to support human life in orbit and…

2016 – U.S. Human Launch – Snapshot

The United States is approaching its sixth year without a space launch vehicle capable of transporting humans to space and back. NASA has instead…

2016 – Russia Human Launch – Snapshot

Russia continued to be the only nation ferrying humans to the International Space Station (ISS) in 2016 with its…

2016 – China Human Launch – Snapshot

China was one of two nations with human space launch vehicles active in 2016. After a three-year hiatus, China launched its…

2015 – China Launch, Human

China’s most recent human mission to space was in June 2013, when three taikonauts docked a capsule with the Tiangong-1 space station. Since then, China has announced plans to launch a second space station, Tiangong-2, to replace Tiangong-1. The Chinese government continued assembling and testing Tiangong-2 in 2015, intending to launch it into orbit sometime in 2016. A subsequent crewed mission, Shenzhou-11, would be launched later in 2016. The crew will dock with the Tiangong-2 and may stay in the space station as long as a month.

2015 – Russia Launch, Human

In 2015, Russia continued to be the only nation flying humans into space since June 2013. The Russian Soyuz capsule was conceived, designed, and first launched nearly five decades prior to 2015. The Soyuz space launch vehicle that boosted the Soyuz capsule into space has an even longer heritage. The first of its family launched as the world’s first intercontinental ballistic missile, and a succeeding generation launched Sputnik, the world’s first satellite. Capsule and launch vehicle continued to be modified over the years, enabling them to remain in service.