In 1961, Yuri Gagarin flew into space aboard Vostok 1. Gagarin became the first person to orbit the Earth.
Five more Vostok missions were launched. Valentina Tereshkova, launched aboard Vostok 6 in 1963, became the first woman to fly in space.
| Name | Launch Date | Orbits | Crew | Mission |
| Vostok 1 | 12 APR 1961 | 1 | Yuri Gagarin | First human in orbit. |
| Vostok 2 | 6 AUG 1961 | 17 | Gherman Titov | Orbital flight |
| Vostok 3 | 11 AUG 1962 | 64 | Andriyan Nikolayev | Orbital flight |
| Vostok 4 | 12 AUG 1962 | 48 | Pavel Popovich | Orbital flight |
| Vostok 5 | 14 JUN 1963 | 82 | Valery Bykovsky | Orbital flight |
| Vostok 6 | 16 JUN 1963 | 48 | Valentina Tereshkova | First woman in space. |
Voskhod 1, launched in 1964, included the first three-person crew. Voskhod 2, launched the following year, included the first spacewalk. Connected to the spacecraft with a tether, Alexey Leonov spent around ten minutes drifting in space.
| Name | Launch Date | Orbits | Crew | Mission |
| Voskhod 1 | 12 OCT 1964 | 16 | Vladimir Komarov Boris Yegorov Konstantin Feoktistov | Orbital flight. |
| Voskhod 2 | 18 MAR 1965 | 17 | Pavel Belyayev Alexey Leonov | First spacewalk. |
Spacesuit worn by Yuri Gagarin while training for his spaceflight. This suit is on display at the National Air and Space Museum. (Photos: Richard Kruse, 2009)
Spacesuit worn by Aleksei Leonov while training for his spacewalk. Exhibit also includes part of an airlock used in training. This suit is on display at the National Air and Space Museum. (Photos: Richard Kruse, 2009)
Images by Richard Kruse are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 United States License.
The Soviet Space Race with Apollo
By Asif A. Siddiqi.
Korolev
By James Harford.
Energiya-Buran
By Bart Hendrickx.
The Rocket Men
By Rex Hall and David J. Shayler.