🚀 Space exploration timeline: 1903 — Tsiolkovsky publishes the rocket equation 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 — Goddard writes first paper o…

🚀 Space exploration timeline: 1903 — Tsiolkovsky publishes the rocket equation 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 — Goddard writes first paper on liquid propellants as fuel for rockets 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 — Goddard patents designs for a liquid-fueled rocket and a multi-stage rocket 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 — Goddard publishes "A Method of Reaching Extreme Altitudes" 1920 1921 — Goddard begins experiments with liquid oxygen and gasoline rocket engines 1922 1923 — Goddard successfully tests first liquid propellant engine 1924 1925 1926 — Goddard launches world's first liquid-fueled rocket 1927 — VfR (Society for Space Travel) founded in Germany; von Braun joins as a teenager 1928 1929 — Goddard launches rocket carrying first scientific payload (barometer & camera) 1930 1931 — Korolev co-founds GIRD (Group for Study of Reactive Motion) in Moscow 1932 — Von Braun becomes chief engineer of German Army rocket program 1933 — Korolev leads launch of USSR's first liquid-fueled rocket 1934 — Von Braun's A-2 rockets reach 2.4 km altitude 1935 1936 — Korolev designs RP-318, USSR's first rocket-powered aircraft 1937 1938 1939 — Von Braun's A-5 rocket reaches 8 km altitude 1940 1941 1942 — Von Braun's A-4 (V-2) rocket becomes first human-made object to reach space (100 km) 1943 — V-2 production begins; JPL formally established in USA 1944 — V-2 used as weapon against London and Antwerp; first ballistic missile attacks in history 1945 — USA recruits von Braun 1946 — USA and USSR independently begin reverse-engineering V-2 1947 — First animals (fruit flies) launched to space aboard a V-2 1948 — Korolev's R-1 rocket successfully launched 1949 — Albert II, a rhesus monkey, becomes first mammal in space aboard a US V-2 rocket 1950 1951 1952 1953 — Korolev begins design of R-7 1954 — Korolev writes letter to Moscow advocating for an orbital satellite program 1955 — USA announces Project Vanguard 1956 — Von Braun's Redstone rocket successfully tested; R-7 development nears completion 1957 — Korolev's R-7 becomes world's first ICBM; Sputnik 1 — first artificial satellite in orbit; Sputnik 2 carries Laika — first living creature in orbit 1958 — USA launches Explorer 1; NASA founded; first US attempt at Moon probe (Pioneer 0) fails 1959 — Luna 1 (USSR) — first spacecraft to escape Earth's gravity; Luna 2 — first human-made object to reach the Moon; Luna 3 — first photos of Moon's far side 1960 — First weather satellite (TIROS-1) launched by USA; first communications satellite (Echo 1); two Soviet dogs (Belka & Strelka) orbit Earth and return safely 1961 — Gagarin — first human in space, April 12; Alan Shepard — first American in space, May 5 1962 — Mariner 2 — first spacecraft to fly by another planet (Venus); Telstar 1 — first active communications satellite 1963 — Tereshkova — first woman in space 1964 — Ranger 7 — first close-up photographs of the Moon's surface 1965 — Leonov — first spacewalk; Mariner 4 — first close-up images of Mars 1966 — Luna 9 — first soft landing on the Moon; first orbital docking (Gemini 8); Surveyor 1 — first US soft Moon landing 1967 — Apollo 1 fire kills three astronauts; Venera 4 — first probe to enter another planet's atmosphere (Venus) 1968 — Apollo 8 — first crewed mission to orbit the Moon; famous Earthrise photograph 1969 — Apollo 11 — first humans on the Moon; Apollo 12 — second Moon landing 1970 — Apollo 13 — Moon mission aborted after explosion; Luna 16 — first robotic Moon sample return; Lunokhod 1 — first lunar rover 1971 — Salyut 1 (USSR) — first space station; Mariner 9 — first spacecraft to orbit another planet (Mars); Apollo 14 & 15 Moon landings 1972 — Apollo 16 & 17 — final Moon landings; Pioneer 10 launched toward Jupiter; last humans on the Moon 1973 — Pioneer 10 — first spacecraft to fly by Jupiter; Skylab — first US space station 1974 — Mariner 10 — first gravity assist maneuver; first flyby of Mercury

Source: Elon Musk (X) | 2026-05-30