60th Anniversary of First Human Space Flight

The first manned spaceflight took place exactly 60 years ago. Thanks to Yuri Gagarin’s accomplishment, behind which stood the selfless work of thousands of Soviet scientists, constructors, engineers and other professionals in their field, including Kazakhstanis, the era of manned space flights began.

We are certainly proud of the fact that on April 12, 1961, the launch vehicle that carried the Vostok-1 spacecraft into orbit was launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome on the ancient land of Kazakhstan.

On the same day, the heartfelt lines of a poem were published by Olzhas Suleimenov, a young poet and later our colleague-diplomat - "Earth, bow to a human", glorifying this epochal event. Indeed, the occasion was celebrated in a single wave almost all over the world.

Today, Kazakhstan continues to make its substantial contribution to the peaceful exploration of outer space. We consistently advocate mutually beneficial international cooperation in this noble cause. This was discussed in detail at the International Conference held on April 9, 2021, in Baikonur with the participation of the high representatives of Kazakhstan and Russia, as well as other stakeholders.

“150 cosmonauts have explored the vast Universe from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, which has been the largest space harbour in the world for 65 years. They include Kazakh cosmonauts Toktar Aubakirov, Talgat Musabayev and Aydin Aimbetov. I am sure that further active and fruitful cooperation between Kazakhstan and Russia will contribute to the implementation of joint projects and programmes in the field of space research and manned flights”, the Prime Minister of Kazakhstan Askar Mamin stressed at the conference.

As noted by the Government, our country has developed and operated three satellite constellations. Two large projects with the participation of Kazakhstan are being implemented at the Baikonur Cosmodrome: the rocket and space complex “Baiterek” and the modernisation of the famous “Gagarin's Start”.

And today, when the world celebrates the International Day of Human Space Flight, proclaimed by the UN General Assembly, we are delighted to congratulate everyone on this wonderful holiday! Happy Cosmonautics Day, dear friends!

It is symbolic that on this spring day 122 years ago, Kanysh Satpayev, an outstanding Kazakh geologist and the first president of the Academy of Sciences of Kazakhstan, was born. We are therefore sincerely happy to congratulate the professionals in this field on the Day of Science Workers of Kazakhstan! We wish them bold limitless ideas and new successes!