List Of Space Disasters
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This article lists verifiable spaceflight-related accidents and incidents resulting in human death or serious injury. These include incidents during flight or training for crewed space missions and testing, assembly, preparation, or flight of crewed and robotic spacecraft. Not included are accidents or incidents associated with
intercontinental ballistic missile An intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) is a ballistic missile with a range (aeronautics), range greater than , primarily designed for nuclear weapons delivery (delivering one or more Thermonuclear weapon, thermonuclear warheads). Conven ...
(ICBM) tests, death or injury to test animals, uncrewed space flights,
rocket-powered aircraft A rocket-powered aircraft or rocket plane is an aircraft that uses a rocket engine for propulsion, sometimes in addition to airbreathing jet engines. Rocket planes can achieve much higher speeds than similarly sized jet aircraft, but typicall ...
projects of
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, or conspiracy theories about alleged unreported Soviet space accidents. , 19 people have died during spaceflights that crossed, or were intended to cross, the boundary of space as defined by the United States (50 miles above sea level). Astronauts have also died while training for space missions, such as the
Apollo 1 Apollo 1, initially designated AS-204, was planned to be the first crewed mission of the Apollo program, the American undertaking to land the first man on the Moon. It was planned to launch on February 21, 1967, as the first low Earth orbital ...
launch pad fire that killed an entire crew of three. There have also been some non-astronaut deaths during spaceflight-related activities. As of 2025, more than 188 people have died in spaceflight-related incidents.


Astronaut fatalities


During spaceflight

, in-flight accidents have killed 15 astronauts and 4 cosmonauts in five separate incidents. Three of the flights had flown above the
Kármán line The Kármán line (or von Kármán line ) is a conventional definition of the Outer space#Boundary, edge of space; it is widely but not universally accepted. The international record-keeping body Fédération Aéronautique Internationale, FAI ( ...
(edge of space), and one was intended to do so. In each of these accidents, the entire crew was killed. , a total of 676 people have flown into space and 19 of them have died. This sets the current statistical fatality rate at 2.8 percent.
NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...
astronauts who died on duty are memorialized at the
Space Mirror Memorial The Space Mirror Memorial, which forms part of the larger Astronauts Memorial, is a National Memorial on the grounds of the John F. Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex on Merritt Island, Florida. It is maintained by the Astronauts Memorial Foun ...
at the
Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex The Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex is the visitor center at NASA's Kennedy Space Center on Merritt Island, Florida. It features exhibits and displays, historic spacecraft and memorabilia, shows, two IMAX theaters, and a range of bus tou ...
in
Merritt Island, Florida Merritt Island is a peninsula, commonly referred to as an island, in Brevard County, Florida, United States, located on the eastern Florida coast, along the Atlantic Ocean. It is also the name of an unincorporated town in the central and south ...
. Cosmonauts who died on duty under the
Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
were generally honored by burial at the
Kremlin Wall Necropolis The Kremlin Wall Necropolis is the former national cemetery of the Soviet Union, located in Red Square in Moscow beside the Moscow Kremlin Wall, Kremlin Wall. Burials there began in November 1917, when 240 pro-Bolsheviks who died during the Mosc ...
in
Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...
. No Soviet or Russian cosmonauts have died during spaceflight since 1971.


During training or testing

In addition to accidents during spaceflights, 11 astronauts, test pilots, and other personnel have been killed during training or tests.


Non-fatal incidents during spaceflight

Apart from actual disasters, 38 missions resulted in some very near misses and also some training accidents that nearly resulted in deaths.


Non-fatal training accidents

Spaceflight-related accidents and incidents during assembly, testing, and preparation for flight of crewed and uncrewed spacecraft have occasionally resulted in injuries or the loss of
craft A craft or trade is a pastime or an occupation that requires particular skills and knowledge of skilled work. In a historical sense, particularly the Middle Ages and earlier, the term is usually applied to people occupied in small scale pr ...
since the earliest days of space programs. 35 accidents since 2009.


Non-astronaut fatalities


Fatalities caused by rocket explosions

This list excludes deaths caused by military operations, either by deliberate detonations, or accidental during production – for example German V-2 rockets reportedly caused on average an estimated 6 deaths per operational rocket just during its production stages. Over 113 fatalities.


Other non-astronaut fatalities

47 fatalities.


See also

* List of spaceflight non-fatal training accidents *
Criticism of the Space Shuttle program Criticism of the Space Shuttle program stemmed from claims that NASA, NASA's Space Shuttle program failed to achieve its promised cost and utility goals, as well as design, cost, management, and safety issues. Fundamentally, it failed in the goal o ...
* ''
Fallen Astronaut ''Fallen Astronaut'' is a aluminum sculpture created by Belgian artist Paul Van Hoeydonck. It is a stylized figure of an astronaut in a spacesuit, intended to commemorate the astronauts and Astronaut#Cosmonaut, cosmonauts who have died in t ...
'' *
International Association for the Advancement of Space Safety The International Association for the Advancement of Space Safety (IAASS) is a non-profit organization committed to furthering international cooperation and scientific advancement in space systems safety. Its aim is to advance the science and appl ...
*
Lost Cosmonauts The Lost Cosmonauts or Phantom Cosmonauts are subjects of a conspiracy theory, which alleges that Soviet and Russian space authorities have concealed the deaths of some cosmonauts in outer space. Proponents of the Lost Cosmonauts theory argue ...
*
Skylab 4 Skylab 4 (also SL-4 and SLM-3) was the third crewed Skylab mission and placed the third and final human spaceflight, crew aboard the first American space station. The mission began on November 16, 1973, with the launch of Gerald P. Carr, Edwar ...
*
Effect of spaceflight on the human body The effects of spaceflight on the human body are complex and largely harmful over both short and long term. Significant adverse effects of long-term weightlessness include muscle atrophy and deterioration of the skeleton ( spaceflight osteopeni ...
*
Space Shuttle The Space Shuttle is a retired, partially reusable launch system, reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated from 1981 to 2011 by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the Space Shuttle program. ...
*
Maintenance of the International Space Station Since construction started, the International Space Station programme has had to deal with several maintenance issues, unexpected problems and failures. These incidents have affected the assembly timeline, led to periods of reduced capabilities ...
*
Space station A space station (or orbital station) is a spacecraft which remains orbital spaceflight, in orbit and human spaceflight, hosts humans for extended periods of time. It therefore is an artificial satellite featuring space habitat (facility), habitat ...


Notes


References

Books and journals * * * * Other online sources * *


External links


The Encyclopedia Astronautica

Manned space programs accident/incident summaries (1963–1969) – NASA report (PDF format)



Manned space programs accident/incident summaries (1970–1971) – NASA report (PDF format)

Interactive Space Shuttle Disaster Memorial


* ttps://sma.nasa.gov/SignificantIncidents/ Significant Incidents & Close Calls in Human Spaceflight {{DEFAULTSORT:Space Accidents Lists of disasters Human spaceflight Lists of people by cause of death Accidents and incidents * Lists of transport accidents and incidents