MOSCOW — As of today, 631 individuals from 43 countries have journeyed into space, according to recorded history.
This number includes astronauts, cosmonauts, space tourists and other nonprofessional space travelers. Among them are 82 women from 13 nations.
The United States leads the list with 369 astronauts sent into orbit, followed by the Soviet Union and Russia with 138 cosmonauts. China ranks third, having sent 24 people into space.
Other notable contributors include Japan (14), Germany (13), Canada (11), France (10), Italy (8) and Saudi Arabia (3). Two people have each flown to space from countries like Belgium, Bulgaria, the United Kingdom, Israel, the Netherlands, the United Arab Emirates and Sweden.
One space traveler each has come from more than 30 other countries, including India, Vietnam, Kazakhstan, Brazil and South Africa.
Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko currently holds the record for the most time spent in space — more than 1,110 days across five missions.
He served as a special correspondent for TASS on the International Space Station from September 2023 to September 2024.
Historic milestones include Alexey Leonov's first spacewalk in 1965 and Valentina Tereshkova's groundbreaking flight in 1963 as the first woman in space.
The US' Sunita Williams holds the female record for most spacewalking hours, while Susan Helms shares the longest single spacewalk record.
New astronauts and taikonauts continue to expand humanity's presence beyond Earth, with ongoing missions aboard the ISS and China's Tiangong space station.