The very first Lego set to depict a spaceship was set 801-3 Space Rocket in 1968, so early that the Lego system was still licensed in the US by Samsonite rather than incorporating as its own brand. A similar (but slightly more sophisticated) set called 358 Rocket Base came out five years later in 1973.
Lego Space as we know it, however, only really kicked off a decade later in 1978, with the post-Star Wars release of the theme that came to be known as Classic Space.
This theme, which lasted until 1987, made brilliant use of the contemporary limited Lego color palate, establishing a clear design language of blue fuselages, grey support vehicles, white rockets, transparent yellow cockpits, red wheels, and bumblebee-stripe accents. Transparent red and green navigation lights and printed control panel slopes lent the designs an air of verisimilitude despite their vibrant palate, while “scientific instruments” and “antennae” gave plausible deniability for kids like my dad who knew they were really laser guns that went pew pew.
The air tank-sporting Lego Spacemen, in their solid color space suits with that iconic Classic Space shuttle-circling-planet logo, are still being produced in new colors more than four decades later.
Classic Space was the first time that Lego introduced a “play theme” of this nature, with a shared original design language that spanned multiple sets. It wouldn’t be the last.