Space As Soviet Heritage And A National Project For Kazakhstan

Abstract

Kazakhstan gained independence in 1991, when the Baikonur cosmodrome was declared the property of the republic and the first Kazakh cosmonaut flew into space. On the one hand, space infrastructure is Soviet heritage, moreover, the Baikonur cosmodrome is leased from Russia until 2050; on the other hand, it is a symbolic resource of nation-building, a marker of modernity for Kazakhstan. To show how Kazakhstan is rethinking this "Soviet heritage", the article focuses on the national policy in space research, shows how traditions and national identity are manifested in these processes. The national context is important for the formation of a global image of a young state with a global brand – Baikonur. However, there is also some social dissatisfaction due to environmental and cultural problems caused by the Baikonur cosmodrome. The ambiguity of this Soviet "space heritage" gives rise to various discourses, including the postcolonial ones. Based on the study of "places of memory" in the cultural landscape of Kazakhstan, it was shown how the representation of space is embedded in the general narrative of national modernization, what opportunities Kazakhstan has for the development of astrotourism and tourism associated with visits to the cosmodrome, museums, absservatories, special places of memory, where astronauts fell, and abandoned space objects. Baikonur is of interest as a global place of memory from which the first man flew into the space.