Milestones in Space History

c. 850	The Chinese invent a form of gunpowder for rocket propulsion.
1242	Englishman Roger Bacon develops gunpowder.
1379	Rockets are used as weapons in the Siege of Chioggia, Italy.
1804	William Congrieve develops ship-fired rockets.
1903	Konstantin Tsiolkovsky publishes Research into Interplanetary Science by Means of Rocket Power, a treatise on space travel.
1909	Robert H. Goddard develops designs for liquid-fueled rockets.
1917	Smithsonian Institute issues grant to Goddard for rocket research.
1918	Goddard publishes the monograph Method of Attaining Extreme Altitudes.
1921	Soviet Union establishes a state laboratory for solid rocket research.
1922	Hermann Oberth publishes Die Rakete zu den Planetenräumen, a work on rocket travel through space.
1923	Tsiolkovsky publishes work postulating multi-staged rockets.
1924	Walter Hohmann publishes work on rocket flight and orbital motion.
1927	The German Society for Space Travel holds its first meeting.
	Max Valier proposes rocket-powered aircraft adapted from Junkers G23.
1928	Oberth designs liquid rocket for the film Woman in the Moon.
1929	Goddard launches rocket carrying barometer.
1930	Soviet rocket designer Valentin Glusko designs U.S.S.R. liquid rocket engine.

1931	Eugene Sänger test fires liquid rocket engines in Vienna.
1932	German Rocket Society fires first rocket in test flight.
1933	Goddard receives grant from Guggenheim Foundation for rocket studies.
1934	Wernher von Braun, member of the German Rocket Society, test fires water-cooled rocket.
1935	Goddard fires advanced liquid rocket that reaches 700 miles per hour.
1936	Glushko publishes work on liquid rocket engines.
1937	The Rocket Research Project of the California Institute of Technology begins research program on rocket designs.
1938	von Braun's rocket researchers open center at Pennemünde.
1939	Sänger and Irene Brendt refine rocket designs and propose advanced winged suborbital bomber.
1940	Goddard develops centrifugal pumps for rocket engines.
1941	Germans test rocket-powered interceptor aircraft Me 163.
1942	V-2 rocket fired from Pennemünde enters space during ballistic flight.
1943	First operational V-2 launch.
1944	V-2 rocket launched to strike London.
1945	Arthur C. Clarke proposes geostationary satellites.
1946	Soviet Union tests version of German V-2 rocket.
1947	United States test fires Corporal missile from White Sands, New Mexico.
	X-1 research rocket aircraft flies past the speed of sound.
1948	United States reveals development plan for Earth satellite adapted from RAND.
1949	Chinese rocket scientist Hsueh-Sen proposes hypersonic aircraft.
1950	United States fires Viking 4 rocket to record 106 miles from USS Norton Sound.
1951	Bell Aircraft Corporation proposes winged suborbital rocket-plane.
1952	Wernher von Braun proposes wheeled Earth-orbiting space station.
1953	U.S. Navy D-558II sets world altitude record of 15 miles above Earth.
1954	Soviet Union begins design of RD-107, RD-108 ballistic missile engines.
1955	Soviet Union launches dogs aboard research rocket on suborbital flight.

1956	United States announces plan to launch Earth satellite as part of Geophysical Year program.
1957	U.S. Army Ballistic Missile Agency is formed.
	Soviet Union test fires R-7 ballistic missile.
	Soviet Union launches the world's first Earth satellite, Sputnik-1, aboard R-7.
	United States launches 3-stage Jupiter C on test flight.
	United States attempts Vanguard 1 satellite launch; rocket explodes.
1958	United States orbits Explorer-1 Earth satellite aboard Jupiter-C rocket.
	United States establishes the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as civilian space research organization.
	NASA establishes Project Mercury manned space project.
	United States orbits Atlas rocket with Project Score.
1959	Soviet Union sends Luna 1 towards Moon; misses by 3100 miles.
	NASA announces the selection of seven astronauts for Earth space missions.
	Soviet Union launches Luna 2, which strikes the Moon.
1960	United States launches Echo satellite balloon.
	United States launches Discoverer 14 into orbit, capsule caught in midair.
	Soviet Union launches two dogs into Earth orbit.
	Mercury-Redstone rocket test fired in suborbital flight test.
1961	Soviet Union tests Vostok capsule in Earth orbit with dummy passenger.
	Soviet Union launches Yuri Gagarin aboard Vostok-1; he becomes the first human in space.
	United States launches Alan B. Shepard on suborbital flight.
	United States proposes goal of landing humans on the Moon before 1970.
	Soviet Union launches Gherman Titov into Earth orbital flight for one day.
	United States launches Virgil I. "Gus" Grissom on suborbital flight.
	United States launches first Saturn 1 rocket in suborbital test.

1962	United States launches John H. Glenn into 3-orbit flight.
	United States launches Ranger to impact Moon; craft fails.
	First United States/United Kingdom international satellite launch; Ariel 1 enters orbit.
	X-15 research aircraft sets new altitude record of 246,700 feet.
	United States launches Scott Carpenter into 3-orbit flight.
	United States orbits Telstar 1 communications satellite.
	Soviet Union launches Vostok 3 and 4 into Earth orbital flight.
	United States launches Mariner II toward Venus flyby.
	United States launches Walter Schirra into 6-orbit flight.
	Soviet Union launches Mars 1 flight; craft fails.
1963	United States launches Gordon Cooper into 22-orbit flight.
	Soviet Union launches Vostok 5 into 119-hour orbital flight.
	United States test fires advanced solid rockets for Titan 3C.
	First Apollo Project test in Little Joe II launch.
	Soviet Union orbits Vostok 6, which carries Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman into space.
	Soviet Union tests advanced version of R-7 called Soyuz launcher.
1964	United States conducts first Saturn 1 launch with live second stage; enters orbit.
	U.S. Ranger 6 mission launched towards Moon; craft fails.
	Soviet Union launches Zond 1 to Venus; craft fails.
	United States launches Ranger 7 on successful Moon impact.
	United States launches Syncom 3 communications satellite.
	Soviet Union launches Voshkod 1 carrying three cosmonauts.
	United States launches Mariner 4 on Martian flyby mission.
1965	Soviet Union launches Voshkod 2; first space walk.
	United States launches Gemini 3 on 3-orbit piloted test flight.
	United States launches Early Bird 1 communications satellite.
	United States launches Gemini 4 on 4-day flight; first U.S. space walk.

	United States launches Gemini 5 on 8-day flight.
	United States launches Titan 3C on maiden flight.
	Europe launches Asterix 1 satellite into orbit.
	United States Gemini 6/7 conduct first space rendezvous.
1966	Soviet Union launches Luna 9, which soft lands on Moon.
	United States Gemini 8 conducts first space docking; flight aborted.
	United States launches Surveyor 1 to Moon soft landing.
	United States tests Atlas Centaur advanced launch vehicle.
	Gemini 9 flight encounters space walk troubles.
	Gemini 10 flight conducts double rendezvous.
	United States launches Lunar Orbiter 1 to orbit Moon.
	Gemini 11 tests advanced space walks.
	United States launches Saturn IB on unpiloted test flight.
	Soviet Union tests advanced Proton launch vehicle.
	United States launches Gemini 12 to conclude two-man missions.
1967	Apollo 1 astronauts killed in launch pad fire.
	Soviet Soyuz 1 flight fails; cosmonaut killed.
	Britain launches Ariel 3 communications satellite.
	United States conducts test flight of M2F2 lifting body research craft.
	United States sends Surveyor 3 to dig lunar soils.
	Soviet Union orbits anti-satellite system.
	United States conducts first flight of Saturn V rocket (Apollo 4).
1968	Yuri Gagarin killed in plane crash.
	Soviet Union docks Cosmos 212 and 213 automatically in orbit.
	United States conducts Apollo 6 Saturn V test flight; partial success.
	Nuclear rocket engine tested in Nevada.
	United States launches Apollo 7 in three-person orbital test flight.
	Soviet Union launches Soyuz 3 on three-day piloted flight.
	United States sends Apollo 8 into lunar orbit; first human flight to Moon.
1969	Soviet Union launches Soyuz 4 and 5 into orbit; craft dock.
	Largest tactical communications satellite launched.

	United States flies Apollo 9 on test of lunar landing craft in Earth orbit.
	United States flies Apollo 10 to Moon in dress rehearsal of landing attempt.
	United States cancels military space station program.
	United States flies Apollo 11 to first landing on the Moon.
	United States cancels production of Saturn V in budget cut.
	Soviet lunar rocket N-1 fails in launch explosion.
	United States sends Mariner 6 on Mars flyby.
	United States flies Apollo 12 on second lunar landing mission.
	Soviet Union flies Soyuz 6 and 7 missions.
	United States launches Skynet military satellites for Britain.
1970	China orbits first satellite.
	Japan orbits domestic satellite.
	United States Apollo 13 mission suffers explosion; crew returns safely.
	Soviet Union launches Venera 7 for landing on Venus.
	United States launches military early warning satellite.
	Soviet Union launches Luna 17 to Moon.
	United States announces modifications to Apollo spacecraft.
1971	United States flies Apollo 14 to Moon landing.
	Soviet Union launches Salyut 1 space station into orbit.
	First crew to Salyut station, Soyuz 11, perishes.
	Soviet Union launches Mars 3 to make landing on the red planet.
	United States flies Apollo 15 to Moon with roving vehicle aboard.
1972	United States and the Soviet Union sign space cooperation agreement.
	United States launches Pioneer 10 to Jupiter flyby.
	Soviet Union launches Venera 8 to soft land on Venus.
	United States launches Apollo 16 to moon.
	India and Soviet Union sign agreement for launch of Indian satellite.
	United States initiates space shuttle project.
	United States flies Apollo 17, last lunar landing mission.

1973	United States launches Skylab space station.
	United States launches first crew to Skylab station.
	Soviet Union launches Soyuz 12 mission.
	United States launches second crew to Skylab space station.
1974	United States launches ATS research satellite.
	Soviet Union launches Salyut 3 on unpiloted test flight.
	Soviet Union launches Soyuz 12, 13, and 14 flights.
	Soviet Union launches Salyut 4 space station.
1975	Soviet Union launches Soyuz 17 to dock with Salyut 4 station.
	Soviet Union launches Venera 9 to soft land on Venus.
	United States and Soviet Union conduct Apollo-Soyuz Test Project joint flight.
	China orbits large military satellite.
	United States sends Viking 1 and 2 towards landing on Martian surface.
	Soviet Union launches unpiloted Soyuz 20.
1976	Soviet Union launches Salyut 5 space station.
	First space shuttle rolls out; Enterprise prototype.
	Soviet Union docks Soyuz 21 to station.
	China begins tests of advanced ballistic missile.
1977	Soyuz 24 docks with station.
	United States conducts atmospheric test flights of shuttle Enterprise.
	United States launches Voyager 1 and 2 on deep space missions.
	Soviet Union launches Salyut 6 space station.
	Soviet Soyuz 25 fails to dock with station.
	Soyuz 26 is launched and docks with station.
1978	Soyuz 27 is launched and docks with Salyut 6 station.
	Soyuz 28 docks with Soyuz 27/Salyut complex.
	United States launches Pioneer/Venus 1 mission.
	Soyuz 29 docks with station.
	Soviet Union launches Progress unpiloted tankers to station.
	Soyuz 30 docks with station.
	United States launches Pioneer/Venus 2.
	Soyuz 31 docks with station.

1979	Soyuz 32 docks with Salyut station.
	Voyager 1 flies past Jupiter.
	Soyuz 33 fails to dock with station.
	Voyager 2 flies past Jupiter.
1980	First Ariane rocket launches from French Guiana; fails.
	Soviet Union begins new Soyuz T piloted missions.
	STS-1 first shuttle mission moves to launching pad.
1981	Soviet Union orbits advanced Salyut stations.
	STS-1 launched on first space shuttle mission.
	United States launches STS-2 on second shuttle flight; mission curtailed.
1982	United States launches STS-5 first operational shuttle flight.
1983	United States launches Challenger, second orbital shuttle, on STS-6.
	United States launches Sally Ride, the first American woman in space, on STS-7.
	United States launches Guion Bluford, the first African-American astronaut, on STS-8.
	United States launches first Spacelab mission aboard STS-9.
1984	Soviet Union tests advanced orbital station designs.
	Shuttle Discovery makes first flights.
	United States proposes permanent space station as goal.
1985	Space shuttle Atlantis enters service.
	United States announces policy for commercial rocket sales.
	United States flies U.S. Senator aboard space shuttle Challenger.
1986	Soviet Union launches and occupies advanced Mir space station.
	Challenger—on its tenth mission, STS-51-L—is destroyed in a launching accident.
	United States restricts payloads on future shuttle missions.
	United States orders replacement shuttle for Challenger.
1987	Soviet Union flies advanced Soyuz T-2 designs.
	United States' Delta, Atlas, and Titan rockets grounded in launch failures.
	Soviet Union launches Energyia advanced heavy lift rocket.

1988	Soviet Union orbits unpiloted shuttle Buran.
	United States launches space shuttle Discovery on STS-26 flight.
	United States launches STS-27 military shuttle flight.
1989	United States launches STS-29 flight.
	United States launches Magellan probe from shuttle.
1990	Shuttle fleet grounded for hydrogen leaks.
	United States launches Hubble Space Telescope.
1992	Replacement shuttle Endeavour enters service.
	United States probe Mars Observer fails.
1993	United States and Russia announce space station partnership.
1994	United States shuttles begin visits to Russian space station Mir.
1995	Europe launches first Ariane 5 advanced booster; flight fails.
1996	United States announces X-33 project to replace shuttles.
1997	Mars Pathfinder lands on Mars.
1998	First elements of International Space Station launched.
1999	First Ocean space launch of Zenit rocket in Sea Launch program.
2000	Twin United States Mars missions fail.
2001	United States cancels shuttle replacements X-33 and X-34 because of space cutbacks.
	United States orbits Mars Odyssey probe around Mars.
2002	First launches of United States advanced Delta IV and Atlas V commercial rockets.

Frank Sietzen, Jr.