Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental coun ...
is originated from the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, when Kazakhstan declared their independence. The Kazakh space program consist of cosmonaut and satellite missions. The only launch site situated at Kazakhstan is
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eigh ...
. The program is led by
KazCosmos
The National Space Agency of the Republic of Kazakhstan ( kk, Қазақстан Республикасы Ұлттық ғарыш агенттiгi, Qazaqstan Respublikasy Ūlttyq ğaryş agenttıgı), also known as KazCosmos, or KazKosmos, is Ka ...
since 2007.
History
The first Kazakh person to go to space is
Toktar Aubakirov
Toktar Ongarbayuly Aubakirov ( kk, Тоқтар Оңғарбайұлы Әубәкіров (''Toqtar Oñğarbaiūly Äubäkırov''), russian: Токтар Онгарбаевич Аубакиров, born on 27 July 1946) is a retired Kazakh Air F ...
in 1991, followed by
Talgat Musabayev
Talgat Amangeldyuly Musabayev ( kk, Талғат Аманкелдіұлы Мұсабаев, ''Talğat Amankeldıūly Mūsabaev''; born 7 January 1951) is a Kazakh test pilot and former cosmonaut who flew on three spaceflights. His first two spac ...
in 1994. On 7 January 2000, the
government of Kazakhstan
The Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan ( kk, Қазақстан Республикасының Үкіметі, tr, ''Qazaqstan Respublikasynyñ Ükımetı'') oversees a presidential republic. The President of Kazakhstan, currently Kassym- ...
decreed it would form a
cosmonaut
An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member aboard a spacecraft. Although generally r ...
corps. Out of 2000 candidates, two were selected,
Aidyn Aimbetov
Aidyn Akanuly Aimbetov ( kk, Айдын Ақанұлы Айымбетов, ''Aidyn Aqanūly Aiymbetov''; russian: Айдын Аканович Аимбетов,Mukhtar Aymakhanov, in 2002. Aymakhanov left Kazakhstan in 2012 to become a Russian citizen to pursue a cosmonaut career. Aimbetov was selected for
Soyuz TMA-18M
Soyuz TMA-18M was a 2015 Soyuz spaceflight to the International Space Station. It provided the two twelve-months occupants ( Scott Kelly and Mikhail Korniyenko) at the International Space Station with a fresh Soyuz capsule. TMA-18M was the 127th ...
/
Soyuz TMA-16M
Soyuz TMA-16M was a 2015 flight to the International Space Station.KazSat-1
KazSat-1 ( kk, ҚазСат-1, ''QazSat-1'') is the first Kazakhstan, Kazakh communications satellite. It was launched on 17 June 2006, at 22:44:05 Coordinated Universal Time, UTC by Proton-K / Blok D, Blok DM-2M launch vehicle.] This satellite ...
, marking the beginning of Kazakhstan's independent inflight space operations. In 2008 communications with the satellite ended, and it was declared lost. The next satellite,
KazSat-2
KazSat-2 ( kk, ҚазСат-2, ''QazSat-2'') is the second Kazakhstan, Kazakh communications satellite after KazSat-1. It was launched on 16 July 2011, at 23:16:10 Coordinated Universal Time, UTC by Proton-M / Briz (rocket stage), Briz-M launch ...
, experienced a series of delays, but was launched on 16 July 2011 on board a Proton rocket. KazSat-2 was built by Krunichev and
Thales Alenia Space
Thales Alenia Space () is a Franco-Italian aerospace manufacturer. A joint venture between the French technology corporation Thales Group (67%) and Italian defense conglomerate Leonardo (33%), the company is the largest satellite manufactur ...
.
KazCosmos
The National Space Agency of the Republic of Kazakhstan ( kk, Қазақстан Республикасы Ұлттық ғарыш агенттiгi, Qazaqstan Respublikasy Ūlttyq ğaryş agenttıgı), also known as KazCosmos, or KazKosmos, is Ka ...
signed a contract with ISS-Reshetnev and Thales Alenia Space Italy on 21 June 2011 for the third telecommunications satellite, named
KazSat-3
KazSat-3 ( kk, ҚазСат-3, ''QazSat-3'') is a telecommunications satellite which was launched 28 April 2014 at 04:25:00 UTC from Cosmodrome Baikonur in Kazakhstan. with a Proton-M launch vehicle.
KazSat-3 is designed for services of tele ...
and launched it in 2014. Two more satellites, KazEOSat 2 and
Al Farabi-1 Al-Farabi 1 is a nano-satellite that was successfully launched on February 15, 2017, 3:58 UTC on PSLV-C37 on a record-breaking launch which released 104 satellites.
It is a research satellite designed and built by Al-Farabi Kazakh National Universi ...
, were launched in 29 June 2014 and 15 February 2017, respectively.