Pavel Belyayev nació el 26 de junio de 1925 en Chelishchevo, Northern Dvina Governorate, Russian SFSR, USSR [ahora Babushkinsky District, Vologda Oblast, Russia]. Estuvo casado con Tatyana Filippovna. Murió el 10 de enero de 1970 en Moscú, Rusia.
Accounts of Belyayev's life and space career appear in the 2003 book "Fallen Astronauts" and the 2007 book Into That Silent Sea, both by Colin Burgess. Belyayev is also used as a character in Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens 2005 novel, Freefall, in which he is the first person to land on the moon, hours before Apollo 11.