person journey
From Mir to Exile: Syria's Cosmonaut Who Defected
Muhammad Fares orbited Earth as Syria's first cosmonaut in 1987. He returned a hero. When he defected in 2012, the same state that had launched him into space was killing its own people.
Confirmed2 chapters1987-07-22— 2012-08-01
Syria's only astronaut went to space as a national hero. Twenty-five years later, he fled as a refugee condemning the government that had celebrated him.
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Chapter 01custom01 / 02
To Space and Back: Syria's Astronaut, 1987
On July 22, 1987, Muhammad Fares — an Air Force pilot from Aleppo — launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome aboard Soyuz TM-3 as part of the Soviet Union's Intercosmos program. He spent nearly eight days on the Mir space station, conducting experiments and becoming the first Syrian to reach space.
He was 36 years old. When he returned to Syria, he was a national hero. Hafez al-Assad used Fares's mission extensively in propaganda — proof that Syria was a modern, capable state; proof that the Baath party had brought Syria into the space age. Streets were named after him. He appeared on postage stamps. He was promoted to General.
The Intercosmos program was designed precisely for this: the Soviet Union would send cosmonauts from allied states to the Mir station, and those states would get a national hero and a propaganda victory. For Syria in 1987, it worked perfectly. Fares was genuinely celebrated — a real achievement by a real man from a real Syrian city.
He continued his military career, eventually becoming a General in the Syrian Air Force. He was famous, decorated, and secure within the system that had made him celebrated.
The country he had represented in space was the Syria of Hafez al-Assad — a state that had eliminated all internal opposition, had tortured and murdered its critics, had destroyed Hama, and had built one of the Arab world's most comprehensive surveillance states. Fares, like most Syrians, lived inside this reality without speaking publicly about it. The space mission was real. The propaganda was real. The Syria that used both was also real.
He was 36 years old. When he returned to Syria, he was a national hero. Hafez al-Assad used Fares's mission extensively in propaganda — proof that Syria was a modern, capable state; proof that the Baath party had brought Syria into the space age. Streets were named after him. He appeared on postage stamps. He was promoted to General.
The Intercosmos program was designed precisely for this: the Soviet Union would send cosmonauts from allied states to the Mir station, and those states would get a national hero and a propaganda victory. For Syria in 1987, it worked perfectly. Fares was genuinely celebrated — a real achievement by a real man from a real Syrian city.
He continued his military career, eventually becoming a General in the Syrian Air Force. He was famous, decorated, and secure within the system that had made him celebrated.
The country he had represented in space was the Syria of Hafez al-Assad — a state that had eliminated all internal opposition, had tortured and murdered its critics, had destroyed Hama, and had built one of the Arab world's most comprehensive surveillance states. Fares, like most Syrians, lived inside this reality without speaking publicly about it. The space mission was real. The propaganda was real. The Syria that used both was also real.
Confirmed(85%)Sensitivity: medium
02
Chapter 02custom02 / 02
Defection: From Hero to Refugee, 2012
When the revolution began in March 2011, Muhammad Fares was a retired General living in Syria. He watched as the Assad government — the government that had celebrated him — began a systematic military crackdown against protests, killing civilians across the country.
For over a year, he stayed silent. To speak was dangerous. The Syria he had grown up in and served in did not tolerate public criticism of the Assad family. But what was happening was not something he could rationalize into silence.
In August 2012, Muhammad Fares defected — leaving Syria for Turkey, then eventually settling abroad. He spoke publicly: he condemned the Assad government's violence, described what he had witnessed, and declared his support for the Syrian opposition.
His defection was symbolically significant precisely because of who he was. He was not a political dissident — he had been a proud military officer and a celebrated national figure. He was the man on the stamp. He had gone to space as Syria's representative. And he was now a refugee condemning the state that had sent him there.
He gave interviews. He appeared at opposition events. He made the abstract — the scale of the regime's betrayal of Syria — personal and visible: if this man, who had been the face of Syria's greatest achievement, could no longer defend it, what did that say about what the regime had become?
He settled in the Netherlands, where he has lived since. The street in his Aleppo neighborhood that once bore his name was later renamed.
For over a year, he stayed silent. To speak was dangerous. The Syria he had grown up in and served in did not tolerate public criticism of the Assad family. But what was happening was not something he could rationalize into silence.
In August 2012, Muhammad Fares defected — leaving Syria for Turkey, then eventually settling abroad. He spoke publicly: he condemned the Assad government's violence, described what he had witnessed, and declared his support for the Syrian opposition.
His defection was symbolically significant precisely because of who he was. He was not a political dissident — he had been a proud military officer and a celebrated national figure. He was the man on the stamp. He had gone to space as Syria's representative. And he was now a refugee condemning the state that had sent him there.
He gave interviews. He appeared at opposition events. He made the abstract — the scale of the regime's betrayal of Syria — personal and visible: if this man, who had been the face of Syria's greatest achievement, could no longer defend it, what did that say about what the regime had become?
He settled in the Netherlands, where he has lived since. The street in his Aleppo neighborhood that once bore his name was later renamed.
Confirmed(85%)Sensitivity: medium
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