Kazakhstan Expands Satellite Program Beyond Baikonur

Kazakhstan's Space Days Kazakhstan event, held September 7-9, 2026, in Astana and Baikonur, showcased new satellite projects and plans for an international Earth-observation constellation. A day later, officials announced separate talks with China on a five-satellite Central Asian network.

Baiterek, a Russia-Kazakhstan launch-complex project at the Baikonur cosmodrome, dates to 2004; its rocket changed repeatedly, from Angara to Zenit and finally Soyuz-5, called Sunkar in Kazakhstan, delaying targets set for 2023, 2024 and 2025 until Soyuz-5 lifted off on April 30, 2026, carrying a dummy payload on its first test flight. Kazakhstan now operates the launch pad and ground infrastructure, though Russia still builds the rocket. Baikonur remained Kazakh territory after the Soviet collapse, but Russia leases it through 2050 for $115 million a year.

Kazakhstan is also building satellites at home. KazSat-3, the national communications satellite, ends its operating life in late 2029; its replacement KazSat-3R drew 14 manufacturer bids, two Kazakh and twelve foreign, after the operator invited 40+ companies, and the government allocated 10.4 billion tenge to the project in 2026. Separately, KazEOSat-MR, a three-satellite Earth-observation constellation built by Kazakh manufacturer Ghalam, is replacing KazEOSat-2.

The planned international constellation gives Kazakhstan six of nine satellites by 2030, with Mongolia, the Republic of the Congo and Nigeria contributing one each and possible expansion to 14; the satellites would monitor water resources, farmland, wildfires, floods and droughts. Zhaslan Madiyev, Kazakhstan's minister of artificial intelligence and digital development, said space technologies "must have practical applications and contribute to economic development, improve the efficiency of public administration, and enhance citizens' quality of life."

On September 10, Kazakhstan's National Academy of Sciences said it was discussing a China-Central Asia Satellite Network with the Chinese Academy of Sciences: a proposed system of five spacecraft combining high-resolution, hyperspectral and radar satellites, with the two sides also discussing data sharing and the use of artificial intelligence.