The Cosmonaut Corps () is a unit of the Russia's Roscosmos state corporation that selects, trains, and provides cosmonauts as crew members for the Russian Federation and international space missions. It is part of the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center, based at Star City in Moscow Oblast, Russia.

History The development of Soviet science and technology made it possible, by the end of the 1950s, to consider the issues of crewed space flight. At the beginning of 1959, the President of the USSR Academy of Sciences Mstislav Keldysh held a meeting at which questions about crewed space flight were discussed specifically, right down to "who should fly?". The decision on the selection and training of astronauts for the first space flight on the spacecraft "Vostok" was made in the Resolution of the Central Committee of the Communist Party and the Council of Ministers of the USSR No. 22-10 "On the medical selection of candidates for astronauts", dated January 5, 1959, and in the Resolution Council of Ministers of the USSR No. 569-264 "On the preparation of man for space flights", May 22, 1959.

The selection of candidates for cosmonauts corps was entrusted to the command of the Air Force of the Armed Forces, military doctors and medical flight commissions, which monitored the health of pilots in units and formations, and the training of future cosmonauts was entrusted to the Air Force of the Armed Forces of the USSR. Later, the selection was directly entrusted to a group of specialists from the Central Military Research Aviation Hospital (TsVNIAH).

The cosmonaut corps was formed on January 11, 1960, by the order of the Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force of the Armed Forces of the USSR, dated March 7, 1960, the first 12 pilots who passed the initial selection were appointed to the post of listener-cosmonauts of the Air Force; The first cosmonaut corps, which included the future first cosmonaut of Yuri Gagarin, consisted of twenty people. On March 23, 1961, Yuri Gagarin was appointed as the commander of the cosmonaut corps.

The first Cosmonauts Corps was military unit No. 26266, which formed with the task of training cosmonauts, and a little later it was transformed into the Cosmonaut Training Center of the Air Force of the Armed Forces.

After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the Corps became partly civilian and was managed by the Russian Space and Aviation Agency (RKA).

Organization The Cosmonaut Corps is based at the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, Russia, although members may be assigned to other locations based on mission requirements.

The Chief of the Cosmonaut Office is the most senior leadership position for active cosmonauts in the Corps. The Chief serves as head of the Corps and is the principal adviser to the Roscosmos Director-General on cosmonaut training and operations. The first Chief Astronaut was Yuri Gagarin, appointed in 1960. The current Chief is Maksim Kharlamov.

Requirements

In order to enter the cosmonaut corps, a candidate for the role of a space pilot must pass medical and psychological tests (in the Central Research Aviation Hospital), as well as undergo a face-to-face interview. During the Soviet era, in addition, membership in the Communist Party of the Soviet Union was also a prerequisite for joining the cosmonaut corps.

The main current requirements for joining the cosmonaut corps are to be with Russian citizenship, age up to 35 years, have higher education, have knowledge of English, successfully pass medical and psychological tests, and have body weight up to .

List of active cosmonauts , the corps has 21 "active" cosmonauts consisting of 1 woman and 20 men. All of the current members of the cosmonaut corps were selected in 1996 or later.

Missions underlined are in progress. Missions in italics are scheduled and subject to change. Cosmonaut Missions Group Konstantin Borisov SpaceX Crew-7 (Expedition 69/70)Soyuz MS-30 (Expedition 75/76) 2018 Nikolai Chub Soyuz MS-24/MS-25 (Expedition 69/70/71)Soyuz MS-32 (Expedition 77/78) 2012 Pyotr Dubrov Soyuz MS-18/MS-19 (Expedition 64/65/66)Soyuz MS-29 (Expedition 74/75) 2012 Andrey Fedyaev SpaceX Crew-6 (Expedition 68/69)SpaceX Crew-12 (Expedition 74/75) 2012 Aleksandr Gorbunov SpaceX Crew-9 (Expedition 72)Soyuz MS-32 (Expedition 77/78) 2018 Alexander Grebenkin SpaceX Crew-8 (Expedition 70/71/72)Soyuz MS-31 (Expedition 76/77) 2018 Anna Kikina SpaceX Crew-5 (Expedition 67/68)Soyuz MS-29 (Expedition 74/75) 2012 Harutyun Kiviryan SpaceX Crew-14 (Expedition 75/76) 2021 Alexander Kolyabin None, awaiting assignment 2021 Oleg Kononenko Soyuz TMA-12 (Expedition 17)Soyuz TMA-03M (Expedition 30/31)Soyuz TMA-17M (Expedition 44/45)Soyuz MS-11 (Expedition 57/58/59)Soyuz MS-24/MS-25 (Expedition 69/70/71)Soyuz MS-31 (Expedition 76/77) 1996 Sergey Kud-Sverchkov Soyuz MS-17 (Expedition 63/64)Soyuz MS-28 (Expedition 73/74) 2010 Sergey Mikayev Soyuz MS-28 (Expedition 73/74) 2018 Aleksey Ovchinin Soyuz TMA-20M (Expedition 47/48)Soyuz MS-10 (aborted)Soyuz MS-12 (Expedition 59/60)Soyuz MS-26 (Expedition 71/72) 2006 Kirill Peskov SpaceX Crew-10 (Expedition 72/73) 2018 Dmitry Petelin Soyuz MS-22/MS-23 (Expedition 67/68/69)Soyuz MS-30 (Expedition 75/76) 2012 Oleg Platonov SpaceX Crew-11 (Expedition 73/74) 2018 Sergey Prokopyev Soyuz MS-09 (Expedition 56/57)Soyuz MS-22/MS-23 (Expedition 67/68/69) 2010 Sergey Ryzhikov Soyuz MS-02 (Expedition 49/50)Soyuz MS-17 (Expedition 63/64)Soyuz MS-27 (Expedition 72/73) 2006 Sergey Teteryatnikov SpaceX Crew-13 (Expedition 75) 2021 Ivan Vagner Soyuz MS-16 (Expedition 62/63)Soyuz MS-26 (Expedition 71/72) 2010 Alexey Zubritsky Soyuz MS-27 (Expedition 72/73) 2018

List of former cosmonauts (partial)

Russia and the Soviet Union The Soviet space program came under the control of the Russian Federation in December 1991; the new program, now called the Russian Federal Space Agency, retained continuity of equipment and personnel with the Soviet program. While all Soviet and RKA cosmonauts were born within the borders of the U.S.S.R., many were born outside the boundaries of Russia, and may be claimed by other Soviet successor states as nationals of those states. These cosmonauts are marked with an asterisk * and their place of birth is shown in an appended list. All, however, claimed Soviet or Russian citizenship at the time of their space flights.

A Viktor Mikhaylovich Afanasyev — Soyuz TM-11, Soyuz TM-18, Soyuz TM-29, Soyuz TM-33/32 Vladimir Aksyonov (1935–2024) — Soyuz 22, Soyuz T-2 Aleksandr Pavlovich Aleksandrov — Soyuz T-9, Soyuz TM-3 Ivan Anikeyev (1933–1992) — Expelled from Vostok program; no flights. Oleg Artemyev — Soyuz TMA-12M, Soyuz MS-08, Soyuz MS-21 Anatoly Artsebarsky* — Soyuz TM-12 Yuri Artyukhin (1930–1998) — Soyuz 14 Oleg Atkov — Soyuz T-10/11 Toktar Aubakirov* — Soyuz TM-13/12 Sergei Avdeyev — Soyuz TM-15, Soyuz TM-22

B Andrei Babkin — No flights. Aleksandr Balandin — Soyuz TM-9 Yuri Baturin — Soyuz TM-28/27, Soyuz TM-32/31 Pavel Belyayev (1925–1970) — Voskhod 2 Georgi Beregovoi* (1921–1995) — Soyuz 3 Anatoly Berezovoy (1942–2014) — Soyuz T-5/7 Valentin Bondarenko (1937–1961) — No flights. Andrey Borisenko — Soyuz TMA-21, Soyuz MS-02 Nikolai Budarin — STS-71/Soyuz TM-21, Soyuz TM-27, STS-113/Soyuz TMA-1 Valery Bykovsky — (1934–2019) — Vostok 5, Soyuz 22, Soyuz 31/29

D Vladimir Dezhurov — Soyuz TM-21/STS-71 Georgy Dobrovolsky* (1928–1971), Died on reentry. — Soyuz 11 Lev Dyomin (1926–1998) — Soyuz 15 Vladimir Dzhanibekov* — Soyuz 27/26, Soyuz 39, Soyuz T-12, Soyuz T-13

F Konstantin Feoktistov (1926–2009) — Voskhod 1 Valentin Filatyev (1930–1990) — Expelled from Vostok program; no flights. Anatoly Filipchenko (1928–2022) — Soyuz 7, Soyuz 16

G Yuri Gagarin (1934–1968), First person in space. — Vostok 1 Yuri Gidzenko* — Soyuz TM-22, Soyuz TM-31/STS-102, Soyuz TM-34/Soyuz TM-33 Yuri Glazkov (1939–2008) — Soyuz 24 Viktor Gorbatko (1934–2017) — Soyuz 7, Soyuz 24, Soyuz 37/36 Georgi Grechko (1931–2017) — Soyuz 17, Soyuz 26/27, Soyuz T-14/13 Aleksei Gubarev (1931–2015) — Soyuz 17, Soyuz 28

I Aleksandr Ivanchenkov — Soyuz 29/31, Soyuz T-6, Anatoli Ivanishin — Soyuz TMA-22, Soyuz MS-01, Soyuz MS-16,

K Aleksandr Kaleri* — Soyuz TM-14, Soyuz TM-24, Soyuz TM-30, Soyuz TMA-3, Soyuz TMA-01M Yevgeny Khrunov (1933–2000) — Soyuz 5/4 Leonid Kizim* (1941–2010) — Soyuz T-3, Soyuz T-10/11, Soyuz T-15 Pyotr Klimuk* — Soyuz 13, Soyuz 18, Soyuz 30 Vladimir Komarov (1927–1967), Died on reentry. — Voskhod 1, Soyuz 1 Yelena V. Kondakova — Soyuz TM-20/STS-84 Dmitri Kondratyev — Soyuz TMA-20 Mikhail Korniyenko — Soyuz TMA-18, Soyuz TMA-16M/18M Sergey Korsakov — Soyuz MS-21 Valery Korzun — Soyuz TM-24, STS-111/113 Oleg Kotov* — Soyuz TMA-10, Soyuz TMA-17, Soyuz TMA-10M Vladimir Kovalyonok* — Soyuz 25, Soyuz 29/31, Soyuz T-4 Konstantin Kozeyev — Soyuz TM-33/32 Sergei Krikalev — Soyuz TM-7, Soyuz TM-12/ Soyuz TM-13, STS-60, STS-88, Soyuz TM-31/STS-102, Soyuz TMA-6 Valeri Kubasov (1935–2014) — Soyuz 6, Soyuz 19, Soyuz 36/35

L Aleksandr Laveykin — Soyuz TM-2 Vasili Lazarev (1928–1990) — Soyuz 12, Soyuz 18a Aleksandr Lazutkin — Soyuz TM-25 Valentin Lebedev — Soyuz 13, Soyuz T-5/7 Alexei Leonov (1934–2019) — Voskhod 2 (first walk in space), Soyuz 19 Anatoli Levchenko* (1941–1988) — Soyuz TM-4/3 Yuri Lonchakov* — STS-100, Soyuz TMA-1/TM-34, Soyuz TMA-13 Vladimir Lyakhov* (1941–2018) — Soyuz 32/34, Soyuz T-9, Soyuz TM-6/5

M Oleg Makarov (1933–2003) — Soyuz 12, Soyuz 18a, Soyuz 27/26, Soyuz T-3 Yuri Malenchenko* — Soyuz TM-19, STS-106, Soyuz TMA-2, Soyuz TMA-11, Soyuz TMA-05M, Soyuz TMA-19M, Yury Malyshev (1941–1999) — Soyuz T-2, Soyuz T-11/10 Gennadi Manakov (1950–2019) — Soyuz TM-10, Soyuz TM-16 Denis Matveev* — Soyuz MS-21 Musa Manarov* — Soyuz TM-4/6, Soyuz TM-11 Alexander Misurkin — Soyuz TMA-08M, Soyuz MS-06, Soyuz MS-20 Boris Morukov (1950–2015) — STS-106 Talgat Musabayev* — Soyuz TM-19, Soyuz TM-27, Soyuz TM-32/31

N Grigori Nelyubov (1934–1966) — Expelled from Vostok program, no flights. Andriyan Nikolayev (1929–2004) — Vostok 3, Soyuz 9 Oleg Novitsky — Soyuz TMA-06M (Expedition 33/34), Soyuz MS-03 (Expedition 50/51), Soyuz MS-18 (Expedition 64/65), Soyuz MS-25/MS-24

O Yuri Onufrienko* — Soyuz TM-23, STS-108/111

P

Gennady Padalka — Soyuz TM-28, Soyuz TMA-4, Soyuz TMA-14, Soyuz TMA-04M, Soyuz TMA-16M Viktor Patsayev* (1933–1971), Died on reentry. — Soyuz 11 Aleksandr Poleshchuk — Soyuz TM-16 Valeri Polyakov (1942–2022) — Soyuz TM-6/7, Soyuz TM-18/20 Leonid Popov* — Soyuz 35/37, Soyuz 40, Soyuz T-7/5 Pavel Popovich* (1930–2009) — Vostok 4, Soyuz 14

R Sergey Revin — Soyuz TMA-04M Roman Romanenko — Soyuz TMA-15, Soyuz TMA-07M Yuri Romanenko — Soyuz 26/27, Soyuz 38, Soyuz TM-2/3 Valery Rozhdestvensky (1939–2011) — Soyuz 23 Nikolai Rukavishnikov (1932–2002) — Soyuz 10, Soyuz 16, Soyuz 33 Sergey Ryazansky — Soyuz TMA-10M, Soyuz MS-05 Valery Ryumin (1939–2022) — Soyuz 25, Soyuz 32/34, Soyuz 35/37, STS-91

S Aleksandr Samokutyayev — Soyuz TMA-21, Soyuz TMA-14M Gennadi Sarafanov (1942–2005) — Soyuz 15 Viktor Savinykh — Soyuz T-4, Soyuz T-13/14, Soyuz TM-3, Svetlana Savitskaya — Soyuz T-7/5, Soyuz T-12 Aleksandr Serebrov (1944–2013) — Soyuz T-7/5, Soyuz T-8, Soyuz TM-8, Soyuz TM-17 Yelena Serova — Soyuz TMA-14M Vitali Sevastyanov (1935–2010) — Soyuz 9, Soyuz 18 Yuri Shargin — Soyuz TMA-5/4 Salizhan Sharipov* — STS-89, Soyuz TMA-5 Vladimir Shatalov* (1927–2021) — Soyuz 4, Soyuz 8, Soyuz 10 Anton Shkaplerov — Soyuz TMA-22, Soyuz TMA-15M, Soyuz MS-07, Soyuz MS-19 Georgi Shonin* (1935–1997) — Soyuz 6 Oleg Skripochka — Soyuz TMA-01M, Soyuz TMA-20M, Soyuz MS-15 Aleksandr Skvortsov — Soyuz TMA-18, Soyuz MS-13 Anatoly Solovyev* — Soyuz TM-5/4, Soyuz TM-9, Soyuz TM-15, STS-71/Soyuz TM-21, Soyuz TM-26 Vladimir Solovyov — Soyuz T-10/11, Soyuz T-15 Gennadi Strekalov (1940–2004) — Soyuz T-3, Soyuz T-8, Soyuz T-11/10, Soyuz TM-10, Soyuz TM-21/STS-71