Vienna, June 12, 2026. As part of the 69th session of the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS), the United Nations Office in Vienna is paying tribute to Arnaldo Tamayo Méndez of Cuba, the first Latin American cosmonaut to travel into space.
The tribute is taking place as part of the celebration of the 60th anniversary of the Intercosmos Agency and the opening of an exhibition organized by the delegation of the Russian Federation. The photographic and audiovisual exhibition, titled “60 Years of the Intercosmos Council,” opened on June 10 and commemorates the 60th anniversary of the founding of the Intercosmos Council of the USSR Academy of Sciences, the organization that spearheaded the multilateral cooperation program for the exploration and use of outer space for peaceful purposes.
The exhibition, which will remain open until June 19, features historical images and audiovisual materials that pay tribute to Tamayo Méndez, among other cosmonauts, including an interview given by the Cuban cosmonaut himself in which he recounts his experience in orbit. It also documents Soviet-Cuban and, later, Russian-Cuban cooperation in space matters, ranging from joint experiments aboard the Salyut 6 space station to training programs and the development of satellite technologies, which have served as a model of peaceful collaboration between nations.
Arnaldo Tamayo’s flight alongside Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Romanenko represented a milestone not only for Cuba but for all of Latin America—a legacy that this exhibition, marking the 60th anniversary of Intercosmos, seeks to preserve in order to shape the future of multilateral space cooperation, highlighting the value of technical and scientific partnerships between countries in the field of space exploration.
The Permanent Mission of Cuba in Vienna expressed its direct gratitude for the tribute paid to its compatriot and to this Cuban space milestone, noting that Arnaldo Tamayo Méndez—currently a retired Brigadier General of the Cuban Air Force and declared a Hero of the Republic of Cuba and a Hero of the Soviet Union— remains a symbol of technological sovereignty and international solidarity for Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as an inspiration for new generations of scientists and space explorers in the region.