Toktar Aubakirov

Toktar Aubakirov on a 1999 Kazakhstani stamp
Cosmonaut
Nationality	Kazakh
Status	Retired
Born	(1946-07-27) 27 July 1946 (age 70) Karaganda, Kazakh SSR, Soviet Union
Other occupation	Test pilot
Rank	Major General
Time in space	7d 22h 12m
Selection	1991 Cosmonaut Group
Missions	Soyuz TM-13, Soyuz TM-12
Mission insignia
Awards

Toktar Ongarbayuly Aubakirov (Kazakh: Тоқтар Оңғарбайұлы Әубәкіров, Russian: Токтар Онгарбаевич Аубакиров, born on 27 July 1946) is a retired Kazakh Air Force officer and a former cosmonaut.

Toktar Aubakirov was born in Karkaraly district, Karaganda region, Kazakh SSR, which is now Kazakhstan. After graduating from the 8th grade of a secondary school he started working as a metal turner at the Temirtau foundry, whilst attending an evening school. In 1965 he joined the Armavir Military Aviation Institute of the Anti-Air Defence Pilots. He served as a fighter pilot in the Soviet Air Force on the Far East borders of the USSR until his acceptance into the M. Gromov Test Pilot's School in 1975.

Between 1976 and 1991 he served as a test pilot at the Mikoyan Experimental Design Bureau (MiG aircraft). During this time he tested over 50 types of aircraft. The first in the Soviet Union to make a nonstop flight crossing the North Pole and with two in-flight refueling, the first in the Soviet Union who took off of the aircraft-carrier Tbilisi (later named Kuznetsov) on a MiG 29K.

In 1991, in accordance with an agreement between the governments of the USSR and the Kazakh SSR, started training at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centern. On 2 October 1991 he launched with Russian cosmonaut Alexander Volkov as flight commander, and the Austrian research cosmonaut Franz Viehböck in Soyuz TM-13 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome spaceport, and spent over eight days in space.

Since 1993, he has been the general director of the National Aerospace Agency of Republic of Kazakhstan. He was a member of the Kazakhstan parliament. Now he is a pensioner and consultant.