The Encyclopedia

The Encyclopedia Astronautica archive holds more than 79,000 pages and 13,000 images covering the history of spaceflight. It has entries on launch vehicles, spacecraft, engines, launch sites, missions and the astronauts and cosmonauts who flew them, with unusual depth on Soviet and Russian programs and on projects that never flew.

The archive was built over many years by the site's founder and contributors, and it remains free for anyone to use.

How to find your way around

• Search for any rocket, spacecraft, mission or person using the box above.
• Browse by topic using the sections below, from launch vehicles to space activity by country.
• Use the A to Z index if you know the name of what you're looking for.
• Explore the chronology to see what happened in spaceflight on any given day.

A note on dates

The space history chronology and calendar run through 2018. We keep them as a historical record rather than a live news feed. For newer events, see our articles in Exploration.

Spotted a mistake?

The archive is large and some entries are decades old. If you find an error, please let us know and we'll check it against the sources.