Outer space is once again becoming a stage for strategic competition. From the rise of SpaceX and Blue Origin to China’s growing lunar ambitions and the proliferation of new state and commercial actors in low-Earth orbit, the global space race has re-entered the spotlight. In this competitive context, a site with a seven-decade legacy – the Baikonur Cosmodrome in southern Kazakhstan – is regaining relevance.
Once the symbol of Soviet technological ambition, Baikonur today finds itself at a new juncture: as a potential bridge for multilateral cooperation in space.
This year marks the 70th anniversary of Baikonur, an occasion celebrated just this week in the town that bears its name. As the world’s first and longest-operating spaceport enters its eighth decade, it is worth considering how its foundational identity can still serve a meaningful role in the emerging global space order.
Kazakhstan’s historical narrative offers a compelling lens through which to understand Baikonur’s broader significance. On this same territory, thousands of years ago, the Botai culture achieved what some scholars consider one of the most important technological shifts in human history: the domestication of the wild horse, which transformed mobility, trade, and warfare across Eurasia.
Millennia later, Kazakhstan became the launchpad for a second great leap: the exploration of space. In both cases, the land served as a silent enabler of humanity’s expansion, first across the Earth, and then beyond it. This historical framing lends Baikonur a deeper symbolic value: it is part of a longer human trajectory of frontier-making.
From Cold War Icon to Cooperative Platform
Established in 1955 in the Kazakh steppe, the Baikonur Cosmodrome was at the epicentre of the 20th century’s most transformative technological feats. It was from Baikonur that the Soviet Union launched Sputnik-1 in 1957, the first artificial satellite, igniting the space race. Just four years later, Yuri Gagarin became the first human in space, also launching from Baikonur. These milestones redefined the boundaries of political competition and human imagination.
By the early 1990s, with the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Baikonur faced an uncertain future. However, the cosmodrome never fell into disuse. Instead, it adapted. Kazakhstan, now the sovereign owner of the site, entered into a long-term lease agreement with Russia, allowing operations to continue while maintaining its own strategic oversight.
Today, Baikonur remains one of the most active launch facilities on Earth. Over 5,000 rockets have lifted off from Baikonur, including more than 3,000 space missions, many of them crewed. The site currently supports over 20 launches per year, including missions to the International Space Station (ISS). It has facilitated launches not only for Russia and Kazakhstan but also for Europe, the United States, Japan, India, and other emerging space nations.
Kazakhstan’s Multi-Vector Diplomacy Reaches the Stars
Kazakhstan’s foreign policy is characterized by a pragmatic, multi-vector approach, balancing strong ties with major powers, such as Russia, China, the European Union, and the United States, while maintaining its sovereignty and regional leadership. This diplomatic posture has extended into the space domain, where Kazakhstan has positioned itself as a connector.
In 2023, Kazakhstan signalled its interest in participating in the China-led International Lunar Research Station (ILRS) project, an initiative that includes a mix of emerging and established space actors. At the same time, Kazakhstan continues to work closely with European and American institutions on research and satellite development. The ability to straddle these geopolitical divides gives Kazakhstan, and by extension Baikonur, a unique potential role: to offer a credible platform for space cooperation, even as international rivalries intensify.
One of the most concrete developments shaping Baikonur’s future is the Baiterek project, a joint Kazakh-Russian initiative to build a new environmentally friendly launch complex at the site. Designed to accommodate the modern Soyuz-5 rocket, the Baiterek facility is intended to replace aging Soviet-era infrastructure and bring Baikonur in line with 21st-century launch standards.
Though the project has faced delays, its strategic intent is clear: to secure Baikonur’s relevance in a market increasingly dominated by reusable launch vehicles, commercial constellations, and rapid-turnaround missions. With commercial launch demand projected to grow by 15–20% annually, Baikonur’s vast infrastructure, geographic location, and clear weather conditions provide strong comparative advantages.
A Role in Planetary Defence and Global Security?
The next frontier in space will not be limited to exploration or commercial services. Increasingly, international discussions are turning to planetary defence, space debris mitigation, and the non-weaponization of outer space. These are inherently global challenges that require trust, transparency, and neutral platforms for dialogue and coordination.
Baikonur, located in a country that has renounced nuclear weapons, championed non-proliferation, and pursued peace diplomacy in regions from Afghanistan to Ukraine, offers a site for convening such efforts. Kazakhstan’s recent initiatives at the United Nations, including its support for a code of conduct in space, align with Baikonur’s potential to host summits, research initiatives, or simulation exercises in this domain.
Of course, Baikonur also faces hurdles. Its infrastructure, while vast, is aging. The long-term lease agreement with Russia, while practical, places some limitations on Kazakhstan’s autonomy in decision-making and development. And competition is fierce: the rise of private spaceports, mini-launchers, and reusable systems could gradually render traditional sites less competitive.
Yet this challenge also presents opportunity. Rather than attempting to compete head-on with SpaceX or China’s CNSA, Baikonur could carve out a role as a collaborative gateway – focusing on multilateral missions, training, education, and long-duration science platforms that require stability, infrastructure, and trust.
As space becomes more congested, contested, and commercialized, Baikonur can serve as a diplomatic, scientific, and commercial bridge in a domain increasingly marked by division. In doing so, Baikonur may yet once again become the place where the future lifts off.
