Russia celebrates the 65th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin's flight

On April 12, Russian cosmonauts celebrating their professional holiday at their workplace on the International Space Station congratulated the inhabitants of the Earth on the holiday. Sergey Kud-Sverchkov, Sergey Mikaev and Andrey Fedyaev.

"Let's look up again, dream of the stars and distant planets. Happy Cosmonautics Day, friends!" said Hero of Russia, Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev in a video message.

At 9:07 a.m. Moscow time, when the Vostok launch vehicle launched in 1961, which launched the Vostok-1 spacecraft carrying Yuri Gagarin into Earth orbit, 22 Russian nuclear and diesel-electric icebreakers blew their horns in honor of the 65th anniversary of this great event.

On Cosmonautics Day, an Aeroflot flight from Moscow arrived in Khabarovsk at 7:44 a.m. local time. The Sergei Korolev plane was met on the runway by the Chamber Choir of the Moscow Conservatory under the direction of Alexander Solovyov. After that, the choir performed directly in the passenger terminal of Khabarovsk airport. On Sunday evening, the opening gala concert of the 15th Yuri Bashmet International Festival in the Khabarovsk Territory took place. The work that opened the festival was Kuzma Bodrov's "Dream of Space". It was created specifically for the concert dedicated to the 60th anniversary of the first human spaceflight and performed by the All-Russian Youth Symphony Orchestra conducted by People's Artist and Conductor Yuri Bashmet, which opened the concert at Baikonur five years ago.

In addition, congratulations on the 65th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin's flight into space are being heard on all Aeroflot flights today. On Sunday morning, Dmitry Bakanov, CEO of the Roscosmos State Corporation, Andrei Korolev, grandson of Sergei Korolev, representatives of the Roscosmos leadership, Russian cosmonauts, and industry veterans traditionally laid wreaths and flowers at the burial sites of the founder of practical cosmonautics, designer Sergei Korolev, the first cosmonaut of the planet Yuri Gagarin, and other prominent figures in the rocket and space industry at the Kremlin wall.

On Cosmonautics Day, the premiere of the full-dome short film "Step into Infinity", which repeats the flight of Yuri Gagarin, took place. The painting was created by specialists of the BEAC in honor of the 65th anniversary of the first human space flight. More than 50 planetariums throughout Russia, as well as in Vitebsk (Belarus) and Aktobe (Kazakhstan), had the opportunity to include this immersive film in their main program — the film was donated to them. The film was created using the technologies of Sber's innovative production complex, Sber Studio. In particular, the picture uses a special spherical scan of the image, which allows you to correctly display the picture on the surface of the dome screen. This allows viewers to relive the events of 1961 with the maximum effect of presence, turning an educational video into a vivid and emotionally intense immersive experience.

Hundreds of events dedicated to Cosmonautics Day are taking place all over Russia today. And the highest exhibition is located on the closed observation deck of the Ostankino TV Tower at an altitude of 337 m. The observation deck is located at an altitude of . Here are models of spacecraft, satellites, and an astronaut's chair for the Soyuz manned transport spacecraft.

A series of dictation sessions on the space theme was also held during the Week, and the largest of them was the "Space Dictation", which took place directly on Cosmonautics Day at the Cosmonautics and Aviation Center at VDNH. The event has been organized for four years in a row by Hero of Russia, cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin, during which time over 60 thousand people took part in it.

On April 12, the Public Services website for the first time made it possible to electronically submit documents for participation in the open selection for the Roscosmos cosmonaut squad. This greatly simplifies the procedure for collecting and transferring some of the documents to the Cosmonaut Training Center, where a special commission conducts an admission campaign. You can apply for participation in the selection process until June 30, 2026 inclusive.

The highlight of Space Week was a traditional festive concert at the country's main concert venue, the State Kremlin Palace, where awards were presented to the most distinguished employees of the rocket and space industry and famous Russian artists performed. The concert was broadcast by Channel One.

Space Week was held in Russia from April 6 to April 12. On December 29, the President of Russia signed a decree on the annual holding of the Week. In 2026, it is timed to coincide with the 65th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin's flight into space.

Space Week brought together hundreds of events across the country: from educational campaigns and scientific forums to cultural and sporting events.