The first space shuttle to fly into space in 1981 was Columbia.
Columbia made its historic debut as the orbiter for STS-1, the first orbital mission of NASA’s Space Shuttle program. It launched from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on April 12, 1981, carrying commander John Young and pilot Robert Crippen. The mission lasted about 54 hours and ended with a runway landing at Edwards Air Force Base.
The flight was a major engineering milestone because Columbia was a crewed, reusable spacecraft designed to launch like a rocket and land like an airplane. STS-1 completed 36 orbits and verified the shuttle’s ability to ascend, operate in orbit, re-enter, and land safely.
A common mix-up is choosing Challenger, Discovery, or Atlantis because those orbiters became famous later. Challenger first flew in 1983, Discovery in 1984, and Atlantis in 1985. Columbia was also the first shuttle lost in flight, during re-entry after STS-107 in 2003.