This is a list of astronauts, who are in a restricted sense, Asians.

If "Asian" is restricted to refer to people from the continent of Asia, exclusive of Asian Russia and Turkey, who are not of predominantly European, African, or American ancestry, then the list is as follows:

The first country listed is that of citizenship; the second, if any, is that of the Asian country of birth and/or ancestry, where different. Those of Asian ancestry but were born outside Asia are excluded.

The table lists astronauts whose origin or ancestry is in Central, East, South, Southeast, and West Asia.

List

# Image Name
Birth date 		Country Comment Missions (Launch date)
1 Phạm Tuân
February 14, 1947 		 Vietnam First Vietnamese and first person of Asian origin to be in space. Soyuz 37 (July 23, 1980)
2 Jügderdemidiin Gürragchaa
December 5, 1947 		 Mongolia First Mongolian in space. Soyuz 39 (March 22, 1981)
3 Rakesh Sharma
January 13, 1949 		 India First Indian in space. Soyuz T-11/10 (April 3, 1984)
4 Taylor Wang
June 16, 1940 		 United States
( Republic of China) 		First person of Chinese ancestry in space. Second Asian American in space, after Ellison Onizuka. STS-51-B (April 29, 1985)
5 Sultan bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud
June 27, 1956 		 Saudi Arabia First Saudi and first Arab in space. STS-51-G (June 17, 1985)
6 Muhammed Faris
May 26, 1951 		 Syria First Syrian in space. Soyuz TM-3/2 (July 22, 1987)
7 Musa Manarov
March 22, 1951 		 Soviet Union
( Azerbaijan) 		First Azeri in space. Soyuz TM-4 (December 21, 1987)
Soyuz TM-11 (December 2, 1990)
8 Abdul Ahad Momand
January 1, 1959 		 Afghanistan First Afghan in space. Soyuz TM-6/5 (August 29, 1988)
9 Toyohiro Akiyama
July 22, 1942 		 Japan First Japanese citizen in space. Soyuz TM-11/10 (December 2, 1990)
10 Toktar Aubakirov
July 27, 1946 		 Soviet Union
( Kazakhstan) 		First ethnic Kazakh in space. Soyuz TM-13/12 (October 2, 1991)
11 Eugene Trinh
September 14, 1950 		 United States
( Vietnam) 		First Vietnamese American in space. STS-50 (June 25, 1992)
12 Mamoru Mohri
January 29, 1948 		 Japan STS-47 (September 12, 1992)
STS-99 (February 11, 2000)
13 Talgat Musabayev
January 7, 1951 		 Russia
( Kazakhstan) 		Soyuz TM-19 (July 1, 1994)
Soyuz TM-27 (January 29, 1998)
Soyuz TM-32/31 (April 28, 2001)
14 Chiaki Mukai
May 6, 1952 		 Japan First Japanese woman and first Asian woman in space. STS-65 (July 8, 1994)
STS-95 (October 29, 1998)
15 Koichi Wakata
August 1, 1963 		 Japan Served on the ISS in Expedition 18, 19, 20, Expedition 38/39 and Expedition 68. STS-72 (July 11, 1996)
STS-92 (October 11, 2000)
STS-119/127 (March 15, 2009)
Soyuz TMA-11M (November 7, 2013)
SpaceX Crew-5 (October 5, 2022)
16 Kalpana Chawla
March 17, 1962 		 United States
( India) 		First Indian American in space. Died on the Columbia. STS-87 (19 November 1997)
STS-107 (16 January 2003)
17 Takao Doi
September 18, 1954 		 Japan First Japanese spacewalker. STS-87 (November 19, 1997)
STS-123 (March 11, 2008)
18 Salizhan Sharipov
August 24, 1964 		 Russia
( Kyrgyzstan) 		Of Uzbek ancestry. Served on ISS Expedition 10. STS-89 (January 22, 1998)
Soyuz TMA-5 (October 14, 2004)
19 Fyodor Yurchikhin
January 3, 1959 		 Russia
( Georgia) 		First Georgian in space, of Pontic Greek ancestry. Served on the ISS in Expedition 15. STS-112 (October 7, 2002)
Soyuz TMA-10 (April 7, 2007)
20 Ilan Ramon
June 20, 1954 		 Israel First Israeli in space. Died on the Columbia. STS-107 (January 16, 2003)
21 Yang Liwei
June 21, 1965 		 China First taikonaut from the People's Republic of China.
First person launched by an independent spaceflight mission from Asia. 		Shenzhou 5 (October 15, 2003)
22 Soichi Noguchi
April 15, 1965 		 Japan Served on the ISS in (Expedition 22/23) and (Expedition 64/65). STS-114 (July 26, 2005)
Soyuz TMA-17 (December 20, 2009)
SpaceX Crew-1 (November 16, 2020)
23, 24 Fei Junlong
May 5, 1965 		 China Shenzhou 6 (October 12, 2005)
Shenzhou 15 (November 29, 2022)
Nie Haisheng
October 13, 1964 		 China Shenzhou 6 (October 12, 2005)
Shenzhou 10 (June 11, 2013)
Shenzhou 12 (June 17, 2021)
25 Anousheh Ansari
September 12, 1966 		 United States
( Iran) 		First Iranian-American in space. Soyuz TMA-9/8 (September 18, 2006)
26 Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor
July 27, 1972 		 Malaysia First Malaysian in space. Soyuz TMA-11/10 (October 10, 2007)
27 Yi So-yeon
June 2, 1978 		 South Korea First Korean citizen in space. Soyuz TMA-11/12 (April 8, 2008)
28 Akihiko Hoshide
December 28, 1968 		 Japan Served on the ISS in (Expedition 32/33). STS-124 (May 31, 2008)
Soyuz TMA-05M (15 July 2012)
SpaceX Crew-2 (23 April 2021)
29, 30, 31 Zhai Zhigang
October 10, 1966 		 China Shenzhou 7 (September 25, 2008)
Shenzhou 13 (October 15, 2021)
Liu Boming
October 29, 1966 		 China Shenzhou 7 (September 25, 2008)
Shenzhou 12 (June 17, 2021)
Jing Haipeng
October 24, 1966 		 China Shenzhou 7 (September 25, 2008)
Shenzhou 9 (June 16, 2012)
Shenzhou 11 (October 17, 2016)
Shenzhou 16 (May 30, 2023)
32 Naoko Yamazaki
December 27, 1970 		 Japan STS-131 (April 5, 2010)
33 Satoshi Furukawa
April 4, 1964 		 Japan Served on the ISS in (Expedition 28/29). Soyuz TMA-02M (7 June 2011)
SpaceX Crew-7 (26 August 2023)
34, 35 Liu Wang
1970 		 China Shenzhou 9 (June 16, 2012)
Liu Yang
1978 		 China First Chinese woman in space. Shenzhou 9 (June 16, 2012)
36, 37 Zhang Xiaoguang
May 1966 		 China Shenzhou 10 (June 11, 2013)
Wang Yaping
January 1980 		 China First Asian female astronaut to perform a spacewalk (Shenzhou 13). Shenzhou 10 (June 11, 2013)
Shenzhou 13 (October 15, 2021)
38 Kimiya Yui
January 30, 1970 		 Japan Served on the ISS in (Expedition 44/45). Soyuz TMA-17M (July 22, 2015)
39 Aidyn Aimbetov
July 27, 1972 		 Kazakhstan Soyuz TMA-18M (September 2, 2015)
40 Takuya Onishi
December 22, 1975 		 Japan Served on the ISS in (Expedition 48/49). Soyuz MS-01 (July 7, 2016)
41 Chen Dong
December 12, 1978 		 China Shenzhou 11 (October 17, 2016), Shenzhou 14 (June 5, 2022–present)
42 Norishige Kanai
December 5, 1976 		 Japan Served on the ISS on (Expedition 54/55). Soyuz MS-07 (December 27, 2017)
43 Hazza Al Mansouri
December 13, 1983 		 United Arab Emirates First United Arab Emirates in space. Soyuz MS-15/12 (September 25, 2019)
44 Tang Hongbo
October, 1975 		 China Shenzhou 12 (June 17, 2021)

Shenzhou 17 (October 26, 2023)

45 Sirisha Bandla
1988 		 United States
( India) 		Virgin Galactic Unity 22 (July 11, 2021)
46 Ye Guangfu
September, 1980 		 China Shenzhou 13 (October 15, 2021)
47, 48 Yusaku Maezawa
22 November, 1975 		 Japan Space tourist from Space Adventures. First space tourists from Japan. First time two Japanese people were launched together. Soyuz MS-20 (December 8, 2021)
Yozo Hirano
1985
49 Eytan Stibbe
January 12, 1958 		 Israel Space tourist from Axiom Space. First Space tourist from Israel. Axiom Mission 1 (April 8, 2022)
50 Cai Xuzhe
May, 1976 		 China Shenzhou 14 (June 5, 2022)
51, 52 Deng Qingming
March, 1966 		 China Shenzhou 15 (September 29, 2022)
Zhang Lu
November, 1976
53 Sultan Al Neyadi
May 23, 1981 		 United Arab Emirates First United Arab Emirates for long duration mission in space. SpaceX Crew-6 (March 2, 2023)
54,55 Ali AlQarni
March, 1992 		 Saudi Arabia First Saudi astronaut to ISS. Axiom Mission 2 (May 21, 2023)
Rayyanah Barnawi
September, 1988 		First Saudi astronaut to ISS. First female Saudi astronaut in space.
56, 57 Zhu Yangzhu
September, 1986 		 China Shenzhou 16 (May 30, 2023)
Gui Haichao
November, 1986 		First civilian taikonaut in space.
58 Namira Salim  Pakistan First Pakistani in space. Galactic 04 (October 6, 2023)
59,60 Tang Shengjie
December, 1989 		 China Shenzhou 17 (October 26, 2023)
Jiang Xinlin
February, 1988 		Shenzhou 17 (October 26, 2023)
61 Alper Gezeravcı
December, 1979 		 Turkey First Turk in space and to ISS. Axiom Mission 3 (January 18, 2024)

List by country

  Independent launch capability
  Planned human spaceflight program

Country Astronauts Maiden flight
 Afghanistan 1 29 August 1988
 Azerbaijan 1 21 December 1987
 China 17 15 October 2003
 Georgia 1 7 October 2002
 India 3 3 April 1984
 Iran 1 18 September 2006
 Israel 2 16 January 2003
 Japan 13 2 December 1990
 Kazakhstan 3 2 October 1991
 Kyrgyzstan 1 22 January 1998
 Malaysia 1 10 October 2007
 Mongolia 1 22 March 1981
 Pakistan 1 6 October 2023
 Saudi Arabia 3 17 June 1985
 South Korea 1 8 April 2008
 Syria 1 22 July 1987
 Taiwan 1 29 April 1985
 Turkey 1 18 January 2024
 UAE 2 25 September 2019
 Vietnam 2 23 July 1980

Human spaceflight programs

  Successful
  Operational
  Planned
  Cancelled

Country Organisation Program Destination Period Astronauts
 China CNSA Shuguang Low Earth orbit 1968–1972 N/A
 China CNSA China Manned Space Program Low Earth orbit 1992–present 20
 China CNSA Tiangong program Low Earth orbit 1999–present 19
 India ISRO Indian Human Spaceflight Programme Low Earth orbit 2006–present TBD
 Iran ISRC Iranian crewed spacecraft Very low Earth orbit 2015–present TBD
 India ISRO Bharatiya Antariksha Station program Low Earth orbit 2019–present TBD
 Azerbaijan
 China
 Pakistan
 UAE 		ILRS International Lunar Research Station Moon 2021–present TBD
 India ISRO Indian Human Moon Exploration Programme Moon 2035 TBD

Other Asian-born astronauts

Several Soviet and Russian cosmonauts of Russian ethnicity, and some American astronauts not of Asian ancestry, were born in Asian Russia and other parts of Asia:

See also

Categories