ASTRONAUTS from Ukraine

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Ukrainian Astronauts of all time. This list of famous Ukrainian Astronauts is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Ukrainian Astronauts.

1. Pavel Popovich (1930 - 2009)

With an HPI of 59.85, Pavel Popovich is the most famous Ukrainian Astronaut.  His biography has been translated into 39 different languages on wikipedia.

Pavel Romanovich Popovich (Russian: Па́вел Рома́нович Попо́вич, Ukrainian: Павло Романович Попович, romanized: Pavlo Romanovych Popovych; 5 October 1930 – 29 September 2009) was a Soviet cosmonaut. Popovich was the fourth cosmonaut in space, the sixth person in orbit, the eighth person and first Ukrainian in space.

2. Georgy Dobrovolsky (1928 - 1971)

With an HPI of 59.00, Georgy Dobrovolsky is the 2nd most famous Ukrainian Astronaut.  His biography has been translated into 36 different languages.

Georgy Timofeyevich Dobrovolsky (Russian: Георгий Тимофеевич Добровольский; 1 June 1928 – 30 June 1971) was a Soviet cosmonaut who commanded the three-man crew of the Soyuz 11 spacecraft. They became the world's first space station crew aboard Salyut 1, but died of asphyxiation because of an accidentally opened valve. They were the first and only humans to have died in space.

3. Mirosław Hermaszewski (1941 - 2022)

With an HPI of 57.95, Mirosław Hermaszewski is the 3rd most famous Ukrainian Astronaut.  His biography has been translated into 38 different languages.

Mirosław Hermaszewski (Polish: [miˈrɔswaf xɛrmaˈʂɛfski] ; 15 September 1941 – 12 December 2022) was a Polish cosmonaut, fighter plane pilot, and Polish Air Force officer. He became the first and, at the time of his death in December 2022, only Polish national to ever go to space when he flew aboard the Soviet Soyuz 30 spacecraft in 1978. He was the 89th human to reach outer space.

4. Valentin Bondarenko (1937 - 1961)

With an HPI of 55.83, Valentin Bondarenko is the 4th most famous Ukrainian Astronaut.  His biography has been translated into 24 different languages.

Valentin Vasilyevich Bondarenko (Russian: Валентин Васильевич Бондаренко; Ukrainian: Валентин Васильович Бондаренко; 16 February 1937 – 23 March 1961) was a Soviet fighter pilot selected in 1960 for training as a cosmonaut. He died as the result of burns sustained in a fire during a 15-day low-pressure endurance experiment in Moscow. The Soviet government concealed the death, along with Bondarenko's membership in the cosmonaut corps, until 1980. A crater on the Moon's far side is named after him.

5. Georgy Beregovoy (1921 - 1995)

With an HPI of 55.39, Georgy Beregovoy is the 5th most famous Ukrainian Astronaut.  His biography has been translated into 36 different languages.

Georgy Timofeyevich Beregovoy (Russian: Гео́ргий Тимофе́евич Берегово́й, Ukrainian: Гео́ргій Тимофі́йович Берегови́й; 15 April 1921 – 30 June 1995) was a Soviet cosmonaut who commanded the space mission Soyuz 3 in 1968. From 1972 to 1987, he headed the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center. At the time of his space flight, Beregovoy was 47 years of age: he was the earliest-born human to go to orbit, being born three months and three days earlier than the second earliest-born man in orbit – John Glenn, but later than X-15 pilot Joe Walker who made 2 (or 3, according to USAF definition) suborbital space flights.

6. Leonid Popov (b. 1945)

With an HPI of 54.20, Leonid Popov is the 6th most famous Ukrainian Astronaut.  His biography has been translated into 28 different languages.

Leonid Ivanovich Popov (Russian: Леони́д Ива́нович Попо́в, Ukrainian: Леонід Іванович Попо́в; born August 31, 1945) is a former Soviet cosmonaut.

7. Leonid Kizim (1941 - 2010)

With an HPI of 53.41, Leonid Kizim is the 7th most famous Ukrainian Astronaut.  His biography has been translated into 30 different languages.

Leonid Denisovich Kizim (Russian: Леонид Денисович Кизим; 5 August 1941 – 14 June 2010) was a Soviet cosmonaut.

8. Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Volkov (b. 1948)

With an HPI of 52.67, Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Volkov is the 8th most famous Ukrainian Astronaut.  His biography has been translated into 26 different languages.

Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Volkov (Russian: Алекса́ндр Алекса́ндрович Во́лков; born 27 May 1948) is a retired Soviet cosmonaut. He is a veteran of 3 space flights, including twice to the Mir Soviet space station, and is the father of cosmonaut Sergey Volkov.

9. Vladimir Lyakhov (1941 - 2018)

With an HPI of 52.51, Vladimir Lyakhov is the 9th most famous Ukrainian Astronaut.  His biography has been translated into 29 different languages.

Vladimir Afanasyevich Lyakhov (Ukrainian: Володимир Афана́сійович Ляхов; Russian: Влади́мир Афана́сьевич Ля́хов) (20 July 1941 – 19 April 2018) was a Ukrainian Soviet cosmonaut. He was selected as cosmonaut on 5 May 1967, and retired on 7 September 1994. Lyakhov was the Commander on Soyuz 32, Soyuz T-9, and Soyuz TM-6, and spent 333 days, 7 hours, 47 minutes in space. He was married and had two children. Lyakhov's flight to Salyut-6 with Valeri Ryumin as the Soyuz 32 crew resulted in setting a space endurance record of 175 days when they returned to Earth on 19 August 1979. Lyakhov conducted three spacewalks for a cumulative total of 7 hours and 8 minutes with one outside of Salyut 6 and two outside of Salyut 7. Lyakhov was deputy director for cosmonaut training and deputy commander of the cosmonaut corps at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center. He retired in 1994. He was twice awarded the Order of Lenin and was twice named a Hero of the Soviet Union. He was also named a Hero of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan and awarded with the Order of the Saur Revolution and Order of The Sun of Freedom.

10. Leonid Kadeniuk (1951 - 2018)

With an HPI of 51.89, Leonid Kadeniuk is the 10th most famous Ukrainian Astronaut.  His biography has been translated into 30 different languages.

Leonid Kostyantynovych Kadeniuk (Ukrainian: Леонід Костянтинович Каденюк, 28 January 1951 – 31 January 2018) was the first astronaut of independent Ukraine to fly into outer space. In 1997, he flew on NASA's Space Shuttle Columbia as part of the international mission STS-87. Kadeniuk held the rank of major general in the Ukrainian Air Force. He was Deputy of Ukraine of the 4th convocation, adviser to the Prime Minister of Ukraine, Chairman of the State Space Agency of Ukraine, and Honorary Doctor of Chernivtsi National University. From 2015 until his death, he served as president of the Aerospace Society of Ukraine. Designated a Hero of Ukraine in December 1999, he is the namesake of the Chernivtsi Leonid Kadeniuk International Airport.