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Space Age
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<p>The Space Age is a period encompassing the activities related to the <a href="/facts/Space_race/9fPV4LUq">space race</a>, <a href="/facts/Space_exploration/2eKXYVdq">space exploration</a>, <a href="/facts/Space_technology/pr29hUH3">space technology</a>, and the cultural developments influenced by these events, beginning with the <a href="/facts/Sputnik_1/GQ5KLlNC">launch of Sputnik 1</a> on October 4, 1957, and continuing to the present. </p><p>This period is characterized by changes in emphasis on particular areas of space exploration and applications. Initially, the <a href="/facts/United_States/P0sCdLe5">United States</a> and the <a href="/facts/Soviet_Union/m7wWsPto">Soviet Union</a> invested unprecedented amounts of resources in breaking records and being first to meet milestones in crewed and uncrewed exploration. The United States established the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (<a href="/facts/NASA/TIMCV0yV">NASA</a>) and the USSR established the <a href="/facts/Kosmicheskaya_programma_SSSR/Nz5vfPGg">Kosmicheskaya programma SSSR</a> to meet these goals. This period of competition gave way to cooperation between those nations and emphasis on scientific research and commercial applications of space-based technology. </p><p>Eventually other nations became spacefaring. They formed organizations such as the European Space Agency (<a href="/facts/ESA/L8YRNV0C">ESA</a>), the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (<a href="/facts/JAXA/ofUpflgf">JAXA</a>), the Indian Space Research Organization (<a href="/facts/ISRO/CdAoFQTL">ISRO</a>), and the China National Space Administration (<a href="/facts/CNSA/q3s4bGYt">CNSA</a>). When the USSR dissolved the Russian Federation continued their program as <a href="/facts/Roscosmos/GzWfae7U">Roscosmos</a>. </p><p>In the early 2020s, some journalists have used the phrase "New Space Age" in reference to a resurgence of innovation and public interest in space exploration as well as commercial applications of <a href="/facts/Low_Earth_orbit/rq1TwayJ">low Earth orbit</a> (LEO) and more distant destinations. New developments include <a href="/facts/Billionaire_space_race/DuuUz3pQ">the participation of billionaires</a> in crewed space travel, including <a href="/facts/Space_tourism/fMK9CcnM">space tourism</a> and <a href="/facts/Interplanetary_travel/4HGDAA2g">interplanetary travel</a>. </p>