Today CSTO States Celebrate Cosmonautics Day

On April 12 the CSTO Member States celebrate Cosmonautics Day established by a decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on April 9, 1962 in honour of the first-ever human space flight undertaken in 1961 by a Soviet citizen, Yuri Gagarin, aboard the spaceship Vostok.

There was universal jubilation for the first space flight as the entire world dreamed of going to space. In 1968, Fédération Aéronautique Internationale proposed to celebrate April 12 as the World Aviation and Astronautics Day. On the half-century anniversary of the first flight (in 2011), the UN raised the holiday to a new level. It became the International Day of Human Space Flight.

Today Armenia celebrates the Day of Aviation and Cosmonautics. Harutyun Kiviryan, a candidate test cosmonaut of the Roscosmos cosmonaut corps (recruited in 2020), is the first Armenian in the Soviet and Russian cosmonaut corps.
In the Soviet period, two Belarusian nationals, Vladimir Kovalyonok and Pyotr Klimuk, went into space. In 2024, the first woman in the history of the sovereign Belarus will do the same.

Cosmonautics Day holds special significance for Kazakhstan. The legendary Baikonur Cosmodrome is located here. Kazakhstan’s first cosmonaut, the last Soviet cosmonaut, was Toktar Aubakirov. He went to space in October 1991.

In honour of Cosmonautics Day and the 145th anniversary of Kyrgyzstan’s capital, the Road to the Stars Starts in Bishkek festival will be held. Bishkek-born test cosmonaut Sergei Korsakov will be the event’s guest of honour. In 2022, he spent 195 days in space.

On this day, Russia traditionally plans various events in all regions of the country, including a space-themed spelling test, flash mobs, exhibitions and lectures. The current ISS crew congratulated all Russians on the holiday.

Tajikistan celebrates the World Aviation and Astronautics Day with a “star-themed spelling test,” a visit to the Alley planted by Soviet cosmonauts in Guliston, lectures and other events. As you may know, one of the minor planets of the solar system located between Mars and Jupiter is named Tajikistan.

The CSTO Parliamentary Assembly also celebrates Cosmonautics Day and works on the prevention of a space arms race. On February 1, the second Moscow meeting of the chairpersons of the CSTO parliamentary committees on foreign affairs, defence and security discussed the possibility of jointly developing a legally binding international treaty containing reliable guarantees against the deployment of weapons in outer space.