Which astronaut was the first person to orbit Earth?

Yuri Gagarin was the first person to orbit Earth.

The Soviet Union launched Gagarin aboard Vostok 1 on 12 April 1961 from Baikonur. His spacecraft completed one orbit in 108 minutes, reaching a maximum altitude of roughly 327 kilometers. Gagarin’s call sign was “Kedr,” meaning “Cedar.”

Because Vostok 1 could not safely land with Gagarin inside the capsule, he ejected at approximately seven kilometers above the ground and descended by parachute. He landed separately from the spacecraft in the Saratov region. Alan Shepard became the first American in space weeks later, but his Freedom 7 flight was a suborbital hop rather than an orbit.