This Medal was established by the FAI in 1968 in honour of Astronaut Yuri A. Gagarin, who performed the first space flight by man on the 12th of April 1961. He lost his life on the 27th of March 1968 in a tragic aircraft accident while carrying out a training flight. It is annually awarded to the space pilot who in the previous year has accomplished the greatest achievement in Man's conquest of Space.