Space industry currently is one of the most rapidly developing spheres in the Russian Federation. The general tendency of the development can be articulated as follows: gradual commercialization, international cooperation of states on such matters as aerospace equipment supply, organization of man-tended missions, the testing of the cutting-edge satellite and navigation systems However, the insufficiency of a comprehensive legal base in Space Law is evident. The main reasons of the present situation lie in a relatively recent declassification of the documents which form a basis of the Russian Space Law, incompatibility of paces of development as to the Space industry itself and the reflection of the achievements in a legal form. The problem to be solved in the first place is determination of the legal status of cosmonauts and fixation of the complex of employment rights and obligations this sui generis category of workers has according to the Russian legislation.The purpose of the article is to point out the moments concerning the legal status of cosmonauts as employees which must be considered by the lawmaker at short notice, to reveal the disputed points as to the type of work – whether the constructions of either watch or mission are applicable, the range of rights and obligations, guarantees, benefits and privileges granted on the basis of special nature of work and harmful working conditions involving risk-taking It should also be stressed that one of the major problems that hinder the normal development of Space Law is the so-called «staff ageing», i e the lack of young highly qualified personnel in the aerospace industry.In the conclusion the author notes that the only way to stimulate the progress in the sphere of Space Law is to start a thorough groundbreaking research work aimed at revealing numerous lacunae and filling them in, resolving conflicts of legal norms, as a result of which a single comprehensive legal instrument in a form of a new Employment Code chapter or a codified act will be articulated and will lay a strong foundation for the protection of future innovations in the sphere of research and exploitation of space and celestial bodies.