<P> Space exploration has often been used as a proxy competition for geopolitical rivalries such as the Cold War . The early era of space exploration was driven by a `` Space Race '' between the Soviet Union and the United States . The launch of the first human - made object to orbit Earth , the Soviet Union 's Sputnik 1 , on 4 October 1957 , and the first Moon landing by the American Apollo 11 mission on 20 July 1969 are often taken as landmarks for this initial period . The Soviet Space Program achieved many of the first milestones , including the first living being in orbit in 1957 , the first human spaceflight ( Yuri Gagarin aboard Vostok 1 ) in 1961 , the first spacewalk ( by Aleksei Leonov ) on 18 March 1965 , the first automatic landing on another celestial body in 1966 , and the launch of the first space station ( Salyut 1 ) in 1971 . </P>
<P> Space exploration has often been used as a proxy competition for geopolitical rivalries such as the Cold War . The early era of space exploration was driven by a `` Space Race '' between the Soviet Union and the United States . The launch of the first human - made object to orbit Earth , the Soviet Union 's Sputnik 1 , on 4 October 1957 , and the first Moon landing by the American Apollo 11 mission on 20 July 1969 are often taken as landmarks for this initial period . The Soviet Space Program achieved many of the first milestones , including the first living being in orbit in 1957 , the first human spaceflight ( Yuri Gagarin aboard Vostok 1 ) in 1961 , the first spacewalk ( by Aleksei Leonov ) on 18 March 1965 , the first automatic landing on another celestial body in 1966 , and the launch of the first space station ( Salyut 1 ) in 1971 . </P>
when was the first thing sent into space
when was the first thing sent into space
4 October 1957
4 October 1957