If Turkmenistan wants to send the first cosmonaut in its independent history into space, Russia will help prepare him, Vice-President of the Russian Academy of cosmonautics named after Tsiolkovsky, cosmonaut pilot and Hero of Russia Yuri Baturin said in the Turkmen capital today.

During his trip to Ashgabat, organized by the Russian Embassy in Turkmenistan, he met with the head of the space Department of the “Turkmenaragatnashyk” Agency of the Ministry of industry and communications of Turkmenistan, Ashir Garayev.

"I said at the meeting today that we are ready to provide any advice or anything else, if necessary. If Turkmenistan wants to send a Turkmen cosmonaut into space, we can prepare him," Baturin was quoted as saying by the “RIA News” online publication.

The first Turkmen space communication satellite was launched on April 28, 2015 from the American space center at Cape Canaveral (Florida). By order of Turkmenistan, it was created by the French company "Thales Alenia Space". The satellite was launched at a specified point in geostationary orbit and, after all the necessary tests that confirmed its high performance, it was handed over to the Turkmen side in early June.

Recall that in the framework of the visit of Russian cosmonaut Yuri Baturin also visited the Turkmen-Russian school named after Pushkin in Ashgabat, where he met with students and teaching staff. Yuri Baturin took part in the opening of a photographic and book exhibition dedicated to the 60th anniversary of the Soviet cosmonaut squadron, and handed over to the school Museum exhibits related to the activities of the hero of Turkmenistan and Russia, cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko.