Abdul Ahad Momand, the first Afghan to travel into space and one of the most remarkable figures in Afghanistan’s modern history, has died in Germany at the age of 67. His passing on June 21 marks the end of a life that spanned extraordinary achievement, political upheaval, exile, and quiet obscurity.
According to a family member, Momand had been battling cancer and died after a prolonged illness. He had lived in Stuttgart, Germany, with his family since 1992, after fleeing Afghanistan amid the collapse of the Soviet-backed government he once served.
Although he achieved a historic milestone as Afghanistan’s first astronaut, Momand’s legacy remains complex and contested. Revered by some as a national pioneer and symbol of scientific achievement, he is largely forgotten in today’s Afghanistan, where the Taliban have returned to power and memories of the communist era remain politically sensitive.
Momand’s journey into space came at one of the most turbulent moments in Afghan history.
In mid-1988, Soviet troops were beginning their withdrawal from Afghanistan after nearly a decade of costly military intervention. Soviet tanks crossed northward over the Amu Darya River, signaling the beginning of the end of Moscow’s direct involvement in the conflict.
At the same time, hundreds of miles away in Moscow, a mustached Afghan fighter pilot was preparing for a mission that would make history.
On August 29, 1988, Momand launched aboard a Soviet Soyuz spacecraft bound for the Mir Space Station. He spent nine days in space before returning safely to Earth on September 7.
The mission made him the first Afghan in space. He also became the first person to recite verses from the Quran in orbit and the first astronaut to speak Pashto from space.
These milestones carried enormous symbolic weight. For a nation torn apart by war, the image of an Afghan reaching space represented a rare moment of national pride. Yet the mission was also deeply political.
Momand’s flight was more than a scientific achievement. It was a carefully orchestrated display of Soviet soft power during the final years of the Cold War.
The Soviet Union promoted the mission as evidence of successful scientific and technological cooperation between Kabul and Moscow. The Kremlin sought to reassure both Afghans and international observers that, despite the military withdrawal, it remained committed to supporting the government of President Mohammad Najibullah.
At a time when mujahideen forces were gaining strength across Afghanistan and threatening the Soviet-backed regime, sending an Afghan into space offered a powerful propaganda message.
The Soviet leadership also wanted to demonstrate that its involvement in Afghanistan had produced benefits beyond warfare and destruction. By elevating an Afghan citizen into the ranks of space explorers, Moscow attempted to showcase itself as a partner in modernization and scientific progress.
The strategy reflected a broader Soviet tradition.
Since launching Sputnik in 1957 and sending Yuri Gagarin into orbit in 1961, the Soviet Union had used space achievements as proof of the superiority of its socialist system. Over time, the Kremlin expanded this approach by inviting citizens of allied nations into its space program.
In 1978, Czechoslovak cosmonaut Vladimír Remek became the first non-Soviet and non-American person in space. Astronauts from Poland, East Germany, Bulgaria, Hungary, and other Soviet-aligned nations soon followed.
In 1984, Indian Air Force pilot Rakesh Sharma became the first Indian in space aboard a Soviet mission. The event strengthened ties between India and the Soviet Union while serving domestic political purposes in both countries.
By the late 1980s, space diplomacy had become an established instrument of Soviet foreign policy. Momand’s mission fit squarely within that tradition.
Born in 1959 in Afghanistan’s Ghazni Province, Momand pursued his education during a period of profound political change.
After completing his early schooling, he attended Kabul Polytechnic Institute before continuing aviation and aerospace studies in the Soviet Union.
Returning to Afghanistan, he joined the Afghan Air Force and served as a fighter pilot at Bagram Air Base between 1981 and 1984. The country was then engulfed in conflict following the Soviet intervention of 1979.
During his military service, Momand flew bombing missions against mujahideen fighters battling the communist government in Kabul and its Soviet backers.
He later attended the prestigious Gagarin Air Force Academy in the Soviet Union from 1984 to 1987. During this period, he participated in qualification examinations for future space missions.
His strong performance earned him a place among a select group of candidates considered for spaceflight.
As Soviet leaders searched for ways to reinforce their alliance with Afghanistan, Momand emerged as an ideal representative: an educated military officer, a trained pilot, and a loyal supporter of the Kabul government.
Momand’s spaceflight was filled with carefully crafted symbolism.
He carried a copy of the Quran aboard the mission and recited verses while in orbit. The gesture was significant because the communist government in Kabul frequently faced accusations from mujahideen groups that it was atheistic and hostile to Islam.
The Quran reading was intended to counter those claims and demonstrate that Afghan national identity and religious faith could coexist with the government’s political ideology.
Similarly, Momand’s use of Pashto from space carried political implications.
Many mujahideen fighters came from Pashtun backgrounds and claimed to be defending Pashtun interests and Afghan sovereignty against foreign influence. By speaking Pashto during the mission, the government sought to reinforce its own nationalist credentials and challenge the insurgents’ narrative.
For Soviet and Afghan officials alike, the mission represented an opportunity to project unity, legitimacy, and progress during a period of growing uncertainty.
Momand’s historic mission nearly ended in tragedy.
Originally scheduled to last eight days, the flight was extended to nine due to technical complications.
The most serious danger emerged during the spacecraft’s return to Earth.
A malfunction in the onboard computer system caused the spacecraft to begin preparing to jettison critical fuel reserves and batteries. Had the sequence continued, the crew could have been stranded in orbit with no realistic chance of survival.
Momand recognized the problem and intervened to stop the automated countdown.
Space historian James Oberg later credited him with helping avert disaster, noting that he was among a small number of astronauts who successfully reasoned their way out of potentially fatal situations in space.
The incident transformed what was already a remarkable mission into an extraordinary demonstration of skill and composure under pressure.
Upon his return, Momand was celebrated across Afghanistan and the Soviet Union.
On September 7, 1988, he received the prestigious title of Hero of the Soviet Union, one of the highest honors awarded by the USSR.
Back in Kabul, he was welcomed as a national hero and later served as deputy minister of aviation and tourism.
Yet the political order that elevated him would soon collapse.
The Soviet Union disintegrated in 1991. The following year, President Najibullah’s government fell as mujahideen forces entered Kabul.
For officials associated with the former regime, the change in power brought grave risks. Momand, who had served in government and flown military missions against the mujahideen, understood that remaining in Afghanistan could be dangerous.
In 1992, he fled with his family to Germany.
He never returned.
Settling in Stuttgart, Momand began a new chapter far removed from the fame he once enjoyed.
He worked at the Institute for Cosmological Research at the University of Stuttgart and later joined a private company. In the latter part of his life, he reportedly worked as an accountant.
The contrast was striking. A man who had orbited Earth and represented his nation on one of humanity’s most prestigious frontiers spent much of his later life living quietly in exile.
Many of his neighbors were reportedly unaware of his extraordinary past.
His story mirrors the experiences of countless Afghans displaced by decades of conflict.
The fate that forced him into exile after the fall of the Najibullah government echoed events nearly three decades later. Following the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan in 2021 and the Taliban’s return to power, thousands of Afghans associated with the former government similarly fled the country, fearing persecution and reprisals.
Today, Abdul Ahad Momand occupies a unique place in history.
He remains Afghanistan’s first and only astronaut, a pioneering figure whose achievements transcended national boundaries. Yet his accomplishments are inseparable from the geopolitical struggles of the Cold War and the Soviet intervention in Afghanistan.
For some, he symbolizes scientific aspiration and national pride. For others, he remains linked to a controversial era marked by war and foreign intervention.
What is beyond dispute is the extraordinary arc of his life: from a young boy in Ghazni to a fighter pilot, from a cosmonaut aboard the Mir space station to a refugee living quietly in Germany.
His journey reflected both the possibilities and the tragedies of modern Afghanistan—a nation whose brightest achievements have often been overshadowed by decades of conflict.
With his death, Afghanistan loses a pioneering son whose footprints extended far beyond Earth, even if his homeland never fully embraced the legacy he left behind.
