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List of spaceflight-related accidents and incidents

List of spaceflight-related accidents and incidents is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand List of spaceflight-related accidents and incidents rather than just read about it. In short: 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.

List of spaceflight-related accidents and incidents — main illustration
List of spaceflight-related accidents and incidents — illustration

Key takeaways

  • List of spaceflight-related accidents and incidents belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
  • Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
  • Connect List of spaceflight-related accidents and incidents to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
  • Reproduce the core statement of List of spaceflight-related accidents and incidents from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

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 (ICBM) tests, death or injury to test animals, uncrewed space flights, rocket-powered aircraft projects of World War II, or conspiracy theories about alleged unreported Soviet space accidents.

As of April 2026, 19 people have died during spaceflights that crossed or were intended to cross the boundary of space as defined by the United States, that being 50 mi (80 km) above sea level. Astronauts have also died while training for space missions, such as the Apollo 1 launch pad fire that killed an entire crew of three. There have also been some non-astronaut deaths during spaceflight-related activities. As of April 2026, more than 188 people have died in spaceflight-related incidents. In addition, astronaut Peter Siebold is the only person in human history to survive an in-flight spacecraft breakup; on 31 October 2014, Siebold survived a 15 kilometer (50,000 ft) fall without supplemental oxygen in only a thin flight suit, unbuckling from his ejection seat and deploying his parachute at 17,000 feet. From the breakup, Siebold suffered serious injuries to his eyes, face, right arm and the right side of his chest, which required multiple surgeries in the weeks following the crash. Despite his injuries, Siebold made a full recovery.

Astronaut fatalities

During spaceflight As of 17 April 2026, there have been five incidents in which a spacecraft in flight suffered crew fatalities, killing a total of 15 astronauts and 4 cosmonauts. Of these, two had reached the internationally recognized edge of space (100 km or 62mi above sea level) when or before the incident occurred, one had reached the U.S. definition of space at 266,000 ft, and one was planned to do so. In each of these accidents, the entire crew was killed. As of April 2026, a total of 791 people have flown into space and 19 of them have died in related incidents. This sets the current statistical fatality rate at 2.4 percent. NASA astronauts who died on duty are memorialized at the Space Mirror Memorial at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Merritt Island, Florida. Cosmonauts who died on duty under the Soviet Union were generally honored by burial at the Kremlin Wall Necropolis in Moscow. 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, 40 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 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.

Other non-astronaut fatalities 48 fatalities.

See also

Criticism of the Space Shuttle program Effect of spaceflight on the human body Fallen Astronaut International Association for the Advancement of Space Safety Laika Maintenance of the International Space Station Skylab 4

Notes

References

External links The Encyclopedia Astronautica Manned space programs accident/incident summaries (1963–1969) – NASA report (PDF format) The Crash Site of the X-15A-3 Manned space programs accident/incident summaries (1970–1971) – NASA report (PDF format) Interactive Space Shuttle Disaster Memorial Raw Video Reconstruction of Space Shuttle Columbia Re-entry and More Significant Incidents & Close Calls in Human Spaceflight

Illustrations

List of spaceflight-related accidents and incidents: Space Shuttle Challenger breaks up during its 1986 launch resulting in the death of all seven crew members.
Space Shuttle Challenger breaks up during its 1986 launch resulting in the death of all seven crew members.
List of spaceflight-related accidents and incidents: A piece of the Intelsat 708 satellite in Buck's restaurant.
A piece of the Intelsat 708 satellite in Buck's restaurant.
List of spaceflight-related accidents and incidents: Astronauts Memorial Plaque at Cape Canaveral (2015)
Astronauts Memorial Plaque at Cape Canaveral (2015)
List of spaceflight-related accidents and incidents: The Fallen Astronaut memorial on the Moon includes the names of most of the known astronauts and cosmonauts who were killed before 1971
The Fallen Astronaut memorial on the Moon includes the names of most of the known astronauts and cosmonauts who were killed before 1971

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with List of spaceflight-related accidents and incidents

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what List of spaceflight-related accidents and incidents claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to List of spaceflight-related accidents and incidents before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about List of spaceflight-related accidents and incidents ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of List of spaceflight-related accidents and incidents

In research
List of spaceflight-related accidents and incidents appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry
Engineering practice reuses List of spaceflight-related accidents and incidents in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom
List of spaceflight-related accidents and incidents is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Human spaceflight, Lists of disasters, Lists of people by cause of death, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life
Look for List of spaceflight-related accidents and incidents outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.
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How to study List of spaceflight-related accidents and incidents in 20 minutes

  1. Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
  2. Close the page and write down what List of spaceflight-related accidents and incidents means in your own words.
  3. Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
  4. Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
  5. Explain List of spaceflight-related accidents and incidents out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is List of spaceflight-related accidents and incidents in simple terms?

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.

Why does List of spaceflight-related accidents and incidents matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study List of spaceflight-related accidents and incidents?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on List of spaceflight-related accidents and incidents.

Tags

  • Human spaceflight
  • Lists of disasters
  • Lists of people by cause of death
  • Lists of transport accidents and incidents
  • Space accidents and incidents
  • Space program fatalities
  • Spaceflight timelines

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