Several important artefacts from across the history of the space race crossed the block at auction this year, with strong results set across the board. As we move towards the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon landing, in 2019, expect interest in the space memorabilia market to swell.

Top space memorabilia sale of 2014

A flown Soviet VA capsule provided the top lot of 2014, achieving $1.3m at Kunsthaus Lempertz in Berlin back in May.

The Soviet VA capsule sold for $1.3m

It was used to shuttle crew between Earth and the Almaz Space Station during the late 1970s and had since been sold on to a private company, who had intended to turn it into a deep space craft.

Important space memorabilia sales of 2014

An Apollo 15 hand controller realised $610,063 in a sale at RR Auction, setting a new record for a piece of US space memorabilia.

This Hasselblad 500c is the first flown camera in a long partnership with NASA

The first flown Hasselblad camera (used by NASA on the Mercury 8 and Mercury 9 missions) sold for $275,000 at RR Auction.

A set of Apollo 12 flown scissors made $100,000 at Heritage Auctions. They were carried by astronaut Alan Bean on two separate spacewalks.

Apollo 11 flight controller Gene Krantz' notebook, containing fascinating technical insights into the mission, achieved $75,028 at RR Auction.

An Apollo 17 Robbins medal (the rarest variety) soared to $56,250 at Nate D Sanders.

It was a breakout year for…

Robbins medals remain solid investments

Robbins medals enjoyed an exceptional year. The market for Robbins medals has grown by 13.5% per annum between 2008 and 2014, cementing their status as strong investment pieces.

It was a year to forget for…

A 1960s NASA Gemini capsule was slapped with a parking ticket while being transported to RR Auction's headquarters in Boston.