Women in Space

Today marks 60 years since the first woman launched into space. On June 16, 1963, the 26-year-old Russian cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova set off on the Soviet Union's Vostok 6 expedition. Some 20 years later, the U.S. followed suit with Sally Ride launching off on June 18. The following chart uses data from World Space Flight to show which countries have seen the most female astronauts (and cosmonauts.) The U.S. takes the lead with 59, followed by seven Russians and then two Canadians, Chinese and Japanese nationals each.

This infographic includes the figures for both astronauts/cosmonauts and orbital space tourists. According to World Space Flight, a total of three U.S. women have been orbital space tourists to date as well as one Russian woman.

A significant gap exists between the number of male and female astronauts/cosmonauts. A total of 325 men from the U.S. had become astronauts or orbital space tourists as of June 16, 2023. The next highest numbers were 121 Russian men, 16 Chinese men, 14 Japanese men and 11 Canadian men.