The Aerospace Committee of Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Digital Development, Innovation and Aerospace Industry has declared 2026 the Year of Visiting Baikonur, marking a strategic shift in how the famous cosmodrome is presented internationally.
Long regarded as a closed and highly restricted facility, Baikonur is now being repositioned as a space that is increasingly open to tourism, education and international cooperation. The tourist programme unveiled by Kazcosmos reflects Kazakhstan’s ambition to bring space closer to the public while reinforcing its role in the global aerospace sector.
A central element of the initiative is the establishment of an official visitor centre in the settlement of Toretam, at the entrance to the city of Baikonur. For the first time, the centre will have full administrative authority and will operate on a one-stop shop principle, allowing tourists, school groups and foreign delegations to obtain access permits, plan routes and agree on security arrangements in a single location. By simplifying long-standing access procedures, the authorities aim to make a visit to the cosmodrome as straightforward as travel to any other tourist destination in Kazakhstan.
Educational and youth-focused space tourism occupies a prominent place in the programme. Plans include the opening of a space camp in Baikonur where children will study rocket modelling, the history of space exploration and engineering technologies while being physically present at space facilities. Officials see this as an investment in the country’s future human capital, designed to inspire interest in science and engineering from an early age.
More traditional tourism formats are being developed in parallel. Weekend tours are to be introduced, and the simplified permit system is expected to lower the cost of visiting the cosmodrome. The longer term goal is to shed Baikonur’s reputation as an exclusive and difficult to access site, while preserving its unique historical and technological significance.
The initiative is closely linked to broader strategic projects. To mark the 65th anniversary of the first human spaceflight, a museum is planned at Gagarin’s Launch Pad, and applications are being accepted to attend the launch of the Soyuz 5, or Sunkar, rocket scheduled for the end of March 2026. This launch forms part of the Baiterek project, a joint Kazakhstan Russia initiative aimed at using Baikonur for medium class rocket launches.
Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Digital Development, Innovation and Aerospace Industry says national investment in the project exceeds $180 million, with most of the funds already utilised. The authorities argue that increasing the number of launches and reducing reliance on foreign launch vehicles will bring clear economic benefits, including the ability to launch national astronauts and provide launch services to countries without their own rockets.
All of this is unfolding within a complex legal framework. Baikonur was leased to Russia in 1994 until 2050, with an annual rental payment of $115 million. At the same time, Russia is expanding its own launch infrastructure elsewhere, a trend that could gradually reduce its dependence on Baikonur. Against this backdrop, Kazakhstan’s effort to broaden the cosmodrome’s function beyond purely launch operations can be seen as an attempt to secure its long term relevance in an evolving global space industry.
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