World Space Week: Which countries have sent people to space? | Space News | Al Jazeera

Sixty-nine years ago, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik 1, the first satellite to orbit Earth, marking the start of the Space Age. In 1961, Yuri Gagarin became the first human in space, and in 1969, Neil Armstrong landed on the Moon during the Apollo 11 mission. Since then, over 80 countries have launched satellites, and more than 50 have sent people into space. Since 1999, World Space Week has celebrated these achievements and the contribution of space technology to humanity.