Novozvezda

Novozvezdan Soviet Socialist Republic 3 official languages Russian: Новозвездная Советская Социалистическая Республика Ukrainian Новозвезданська Радянська Соціалістична Республіка Kazakh Жаңажұлдыз Советтік Социалистік Республикасы
Flag: Top: Obverse Bottom: Reverse State Emblem
Motto: Пролетарии всех стран, соединяйтесь! (Russian) "Пролетарі всіх країн, єднайтеся!"(Ukrainian) "Барлық елдердің пролетарлары, бірігіңдер!"(Kazakh) "Workers of the world, unite!"
Status	Soviet socialist republic
Capital	Zhukovsky
Official languages	Russian, Ukrainian, Kazakh
Religion	State atheism
Demonym(s)	Novozvezdan, Soviet
Government	Unitary Marxist-Leninist one-party Soviet socialist republic
• First Secretary	Zakhar Volyntsev
Legislature	Supreme Soviet
Establishment
• First permanent lunar settlement	30 December 1974
• Established as ASSR	4 April 1995
• Elevation to a Union Republic	16 December 2014

Novozvezdan Soviet Socialist Republic (Russian: Новозвездная Советская Социалистическая Республика, Ukrainian: Новозвезданська Радянська Соціалістична Республіка, Kazakh: Жаңажұлдыз Советтік Социалистік Республикасы), abbreviated as the Novozvezdan SSR, also known as Novozvezda and Soviet Luna, is a constituent republic of the Soviet Union. Encompassing all Soviet territory on Luna, it was founded on 16 December 2014 from the Novozvezdan ASSR, an autonomous republic of the Russian SFSR.

Novozvezdan is the largest lunar territory by area and second largest by population after the United States. It is located on the far side of Luna (Earth's moon), with its largest settlement and capital being the city of Zhukovsky situated in Mare Moscoviense.

Initially during the existence of the Novozvezdan ASSR and the first six years of the Novozvezdan SSR, Russian was the republic's only official language. However, because of the Soviet policy of involuntary population transfer to Luna between 1978 and 2005 to provide labor and the initial waves of colonization a significant portion of the Novozvezdan population was not ethnically Russian. The largest Soviet ethnic groups represented on Luna aside from the Russians were the Ukrainians (28%) and Kazakhs (21%), with numerous others represented. As well, while most ethnic Russians had volunteered for lunar settlement or were military personnel and their families, the plurality of ethnic minorities did not have a choice in the matter. The intent of the Soviet government was to Russify these minorities and create a new, single, Russian-dominant identity for Novozvezda without further national delimitation over time. However, after Novozvezda's elevation from ASSR to SSR, ethnic tensions that had been building since the 1970s boiled over and rumors of ethnic mismanagement in Soviet Luna began to be publicized in the west. Following the 2019 wildcat strike in Zhukovsky and riots in Korolev led by minority workers, Ukrainian and Kazakh were officially made co-equal languages with Russian. Despite the conflict's origins, on Earth the newly instituted nativization policy was promoted by the Soviet government as its first republic in space being a shining multiethnic endeavour and an example of a new korenizatsiia.

Etymology

The name Novozvezda, meaning "New Star", was decided by the People's Commissariat for Space Settlement prior to the construction of Zhukovsky. It was named after the Zvezda moonbase, the Soviet Union's first continuously inhabited outpost on Luna.

List of settlements

This list is incomplete.

Settlement	Population	Etymology	Remarks
Barabashovo	3,800	Named after Nikolai Barabashov, astronomer	Small town built to support a scientific research outpost
Chernykh	47,720	Named after Nikolai Chernykh, astronomer
Dollezhal	56,700	Named after Nikolay Dollezhal, nuclear reactor designer	An atomgrad built to serve the Dollezhal Nuclear Power Plant and house its workers
Korolev	487,800	Named after Sergei Korolev, rocket engineer and spacecraft designer	The largest Soviet settlement outside of Mare Moscoviense.
Lunokhodsk	93,200	Named after the Lunokhod programme
Sakko i Vancetti	21,340	Named after Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti	A military town constructed solely to house and serve the families of a nearby Strategic Missile Forces base.
Tukhachevskoye	130,230	Named after Mikhail Tukhachevsky, general and military theorist	A military town constructed primarily to house and serve the families of a nearby Soviet Army base.
Zhukovsky (Capital)	2,450,300	Named after Nikolay Zhukovsky, a founder of the field of aerodynamics	The largest settlement by area and population in Novozvezda

Culture

Flag and emblem

The flag and emblem of the Novozvezdan SSR feature a number of motifs that reference Luna and its early history.

The Novozvezdan flag is red like all other Soviet Republic flags. Its obverse features the abbreviation НССР (NSSR) in gold Vyaz' style of ornamental Cyrillic calligraphy topped by a gold-trimmed red star. It further has black and white horizontal stripes at the bottom, referencing Luna's landscape and its horizon. On the reverse, the flag is essentially the state flag of the USSR featuring a hammer, sickle and star defaced by the black and white horizontal stripes. This was intended to convey the NSSR as being a republic within the overall union. Before elevation to an SSR, the Novozvezdan ASSR was simply the Russian SFSR flag with "Новозвездная АССР" written in gold sans serif text below the hammer and sickle.

Novozvezda's emblem meanwhile follows the same pattern as most other Soviet republics, but with some unique elements. A night black baroque cartouche prominently displays a white hammer and sickle—the only republic emblem to feature either in those colors. Below the hammer and sickle is a rendition of Luna's surface and a gold four point star representing the Pobeda space habitat. The cartouche is topped by a read star and framed by ears of rye on the right and a pine tree branch on the left. The former represents general lunar agricultural development, but the pine branch specifically references the Soviet lunar forest project—an attempt to create a small underground pine forest in Zhukovsky. The rye and pine are dotted with potato flowers, referencing the potato as a staple crop during Soviet Luna's early colonization. A red ribbon is inscribed with the republic's motto "Workers of the World, Unite!" in Ukrainian, Russian, and Kazakh (left to right).

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  Flag (obverse)
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  Flag (reverse)
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  Emblem