The first crewed space launch & the first orbital launch. It carried the Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin who completed 1 orbit before safely re-entering the atmosphere, he ejected from his capsule at an altitude of 7 km in order to parachute safely to the ground. The mission lasted 108 minutes. April 12, 1961 at 06:07 UTC · Launch Successful Vostok-K — Soviet Space Program, to Low Earth Orbit 1/5, Baikonur Cosmodrome, Republic of Kazakhstan Crew: Yuri Gagarin The world's 107th orbital launch attempt, and 14th of 1961. Program: Vostok Data: Launch Library 2, The Space Devs. Image via The Space Devs.