The message reads, in part,
“The creation of the legendary Baikonur Cosmodrome opened up a new, space era in the history of humankind and became a momentous milestone in implementing our country’s space programme. We will always remember the designers and scientists, military and civilian specialists, engineers and workers, all those who built and developed this truly unparallelled technical complex, and did so under the most strenuous conditions, who did their part in pursuing large-scale pioneering projects, which would then become a matter of pride for our cosmonautics and the entire nation. Thanks to their dedicated work and deep awareness of the importance of the work they were tasked, the first artificial satellite of the Earth was launched into space and Yury Gagarin set out on the first space flight from Baikonur.
It is gratifying that you preserve and multiply the wonderful professional traditions of your predecessors and do much for enhancing the potential of the space-rocket industry of our country. Your much-needed work contributed to strengthening Russian-Kazakhstani cooperation and to broadening international ties.”