| Baikonur Cosmodrome | |
 Baikonur Cosmodrome's "Gagarin's Start" Soyuz launch pad prior to the rollout of Soyuz TMA-13, October 10, 2008. | |
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| Location |
Kazakh SSR, Union of Soviet Socialist republics of the Soviet Union |
|---|---|
| Coordinates |
45 ° 57'58 "with. sh. 63 ° 18'28 "to. d. / 45.966111 ° with. w. 63.307778 ° in. etc. (G) (O) (I) |
| Founded |
June 2, 1955 |
The Baikonur Cosmodrome (Russian: Космодром Байконур, Kosmodrom Baykonur; Kazakh: Байқоңыр ғарыш айлағы, Bayqoñır ğarış aylağı), also called Tyuratam, is the world's first and largest operational space center/spaceport/space launch facility and is one of the two largest Cosmodromes (the other being Vostochny Cosmodrome) in the Soviet Union. It is located in the desert steppe of Kazakh SSR, Union of Soviet Socialist republics of the Soviet Union, about 200 kilometres (124 mi) east of the Aral Sea, north of the Syr Darya river, near Tyuratam railway station, at 90 meters above sea level. The shape of the area leased is an ellipse, measuring 90 kilometres (56 mi) east-west by 85 kilometres (53 mi) north-south, with the cosmodrome at the centre. It was originally built by the Soviet Union in the late 1950s as the base of operations for its space program. Under the current Russian space program Baikonur remains a busy space port, with numerous commercial, military and scientific missions being launched annually. Currently, all manned Russian spaceflights are launched from Baikonur.
Vostok 1, the first manned spacecraft in human history, was launched from one of Baikonur's launch pads, which is presently known as Gagarin's Start.
History[]
Soviet era[]
e Soviet government issued the decree about Scientific-Research Test Range No. 5 (NIIP-5; Russian: Nauchno-Issledovatel’skii Ispytatel’nyi Poligon N.5) on 12 February 1955. It was actually founded on 2 June 1955, originally a test center for the world's first intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), the R-7 Semyorka. NIIP-5 was soon expanded to include launch facilities for space flights. The site was selected by a commission led by Gen. Vasily Voznyuk, influenced by Sergey Korolyov, the Chief Designer of the R-7 ICBM, and soon the man behind the Soviet space program. It had to be surrounded by plains, as the radio control system of the rocket required (at the time) receiving uninterrupted signals from ground stations hundreds kilometres away. Additionally, the missile trajectory had to be away from populated areas. Taking these two constraints into consideration, the commission chose Tyuratam, a village in the heart of the Kazakh Steppe. The expense of constructing the launch facilities and the several hundred kilometres of new road and train lines made the Cosmodrome one of the most costly infrastructure projects the Soviets undertook. A supporting town was built around the facility to provide housing, schools and support infrastructure for workers. It was raised to city status in 1966 and named Leninsk (presently Baikonur).
The U-2 high-altitude reconnaissance plane found and photographed the Tyuratam missile test range for the first time on 5 August 1957.
Name[]
There are conflicting sources about origins of the name "Baikonur". Some sources say that it was not until 1961 (i.e. until Gagarin's flight), when the name "Baikonur" was deliberately chosen to misdirect the West to a place about 320 kilometres (199 mi) northeast of the launch center, a small mining town Baikonur near Jezkazgan.
Other sources state that "Baikonur" was a name of the Tyuratam region even before the cosmodrome existed. The main cosmodrome-supporting town Leninsk was renamed to Baikonur on 20 December 1995 by the Soviet leader just after the re-creation of the Soviet Union.