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46-454: Originally developed by CTA Space Systems , won its first order with IndoStar-1 . Orbital Sciences Corporation acquired CTA in 1997 and continued selling the platform under the STAR-1 designation. It was able to sell three STAR-1 satellites to B-SAT of Japan, BSAT-2a , BSAT-2b and BSAT-2c . Orbital then introduced a new version of the platform known as STAR-2 . Its first launch was with

92-490: A 99-year lease for Baikonur, but agreed to a US$ 115 million annual lease of the site for 20 years with an option for a 10-year extension. On 8 June 2005, the Russian Federation Council ratified an agreement between Russia and Kazakhstan extending Russia's rent term of the spaceport until 2050. The rent price – which remained fixed at US$ 115,000,000 per year – is

138-626: A contract establishing the "Russia–Kazakhstan Baiterek JV" joint venture, in which each country holds a 50% stake. The goal of the project was the construction of the Bayterek (" poplar tree") space launch complex, to facilitate operations of the Russian Angara rocket launcher. This was anticipated to allow launches with a payload of 26 tons to low Earth orbit , compared to 20 tons using the Proton system. An additional benefit would be that

184-664: A lesser extent Baikonur's position at about the 46th parallel north ) that led to the 51.6° orbital inclination of the ISS; the lowest inclination that can be reached by Soyuz boosters launched from Baikonur without flying over China . With the conclusion of NASA's Space Shuttle program in 2011, Baikonur became the sole launch site used for crewed missions to the ISS until the launch of Crew Dragon Demo-2 in 2020. In 2019, Gagarin's Start hosted three crewed launches, in March, July and September, before being shut down for modernisation for

230-644: A museum (in part for tourism purposes). On 7 March 2023, the Kazakh government seized control of the Baiterek launch complex, one of the launch sites at Baikonur Cosmodrome, banning numerous Russian officials from leaving the country and preventing the liquidation of assets by Roscosmos. One of the reasons for the seizure was due to Russia failing to pay a $ 29.7 million debt to the Kazakh government. The seizure comes after Russia's relations with Kazakhstan became tense due to its ongoing invasion of Ukraine . Baikonur

276-480: A new company called Orbital ATK, Inc. On February 9, 2015, Orbital ATK started operating as an entity. During 2015, Orbital ATK would introduce a variation of the bus dedicated to servicing spacecraft in geostationary orbit, the Gemini bus . They would announce their first win for Gemini platform on April 12, 2016, with the agreement to sell the services of Mission Extension Vehicle-1 to Intelsat in 2019. Through

322-644: Is a spaceport operated by Russia within Kazakhstan . Located in the Kazakh city of Baikonur , it is the largest operational space launch facility in terms of area. All Russian crewed spaceflights are launched from Baikonur. Situated in the Kazakh Steppe , some 90 metres (300 ft) above sea level, it is 200 kilometres (120 mi) to the east of the Aral Sea and north of the Syr Darya . It

368-545: Is close to Töretam , a station on the Trans-Aral Railway . Russia, as the official successor state to the Soviet Union , has retained control over the facility since 1991; it originally assumed this role through the post-Soviet Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), but ratified an agreement with Kazakhstan in 2005 that allowed it to lease the spaceport until 2050. It is jointly managed by Roscosmos and

414-456: Is fully equipped with facilities for launching both crewed and uncrewed spacecraft . It has supported several generations of Russian spacecraft: Soyuz , Proton , Tsyklon , Dnepr , Zenit and Buran . Downrange from the launchpad, spent launch equipment is dropped directly on the ground in the Russian far east where it is salvaged by the workers and the local population. As part of

460-477: Is home to a collection of space artefacts. A restored test article from the Soviet Buran programme sits next to the museum entrance. The only completed orbiter , which flew a single orbital test mission in 1988, was destroyed in a hangar collapse in 2002. For a complete list of surviving Buran vehicles and artefacts, see Buran programme § List of vehicles . The museum also houses photographs related to

506-642: Is still laying on the falling grounds". Scrap recovery is part of the local economy. Many historic flights lifted off from Baikonur: the first operational ICBM ; the first man-made satellite, Sputnik 1 , on 4 October 1957; the first spacecraft to travel close to the Moon, Luna 1 , on 2 January 1959; the first crewed and orbital flight by Yuri Gagarin on 12 April 1961; and the flight of the first woman in space, Valentina Tereshkova , in 1963. 14 cosmonauts of 13 other nations, including Czechoslovakia , East Germany , India and France have launched from Baikonur under

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552-710: The Baikonur Cosmodrome , Kazakhstan. It became operational in July 2009 and IndoStar-1 was subsequently decommissioned. IndoStar-1 was managed and operated by PT Media Citra Indostar (MCI), providing a direct broadcast signal by high quality digital transmission. Operationally, IndoStar-1 satellite was used for commercial services by cable television companies to relay international and local programs throughout Indonesia. Indovision used this satellite before switching to IndoStar-2 . Baikonur Cosmodrome Download coordinates as: The Baikonur Cosmodrome

598-534: The Buran programme , several facilities were adapted or newly built for the Buran-class space shuttle orbiters: All Baikonur's logistics are based on its own intra-site 1,520 mm ( 4 ft  11 + 27 ⁄ 32  in ) gauge railway network, which is the largest industrial railway on the planet. The railway is used for all stages of launch preparation, and all spacecraft are transported to

644-580: The Interkosmos program as well. In 1960, a prototype R-16 ICBM exploded before launch , killing over 100 people. Baikonur is also the site from which Venera 9 and Mars 3 were launched. Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Russian space program continued to operate from Baikonur under the auspices of the Commonwealth of Independent States . Russia wanted to sign

690-705: The Russian Aerospace Forces . In 1955, the Soviet Ministry of Defence issued a decree and founded the Baikonur Cosmodrome. It was originally built as the chief base of operations for the Soviet space program . The Cosmodrome served as the launching point for Sputnik 1 and Vostok 1 . The launchpad used for both missions was renamed " Gagarin's Start " in honour of Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin , who piloted Vostok 1 and became

736-510: The 1990s, when the Russian civilian space agency and its industrial contractors started taking over individual facilities. In 2006, the head of Roscosmos, Anatoly Perminov , said that the last Russian military personnel would be removed from the Baikonur facility by 2007. However, on 22 October 2008, an SS-19 Stiletto missile was test-fired from Baikonur, indicating this may not be the case. On 22 December 2004, Kazakhstan and Russia signed

782-507: The Angara uses kerosene as fuel and oxygen as the oxidiser, which is less hazardous to the environment than the toxic fuels used by older boosters. The total expenditure on the Kazakh side was expected to be US$ 223 million over 19 years. As of 2010, the project was stalling due to insufficient funding, but it was thought that the project still had good chances to succeed because it would allow both parties – Russia and Kazakhstan – to continue

828-548: The Indostar-1 satellite program for on-orbit turn-key delivery for the Indonesian television broadcasting company PT Media Citra Indostar (MCI). The Turn-Key, End-to-End contract, which included; Launch, Tracking Telemetry & Control Station, Up-Link Station for 60 MPEG television channels, Integrated Receiver Decoder (IRD) design, ITU regulatory filings, insurance, and spacecraft - was the first fully turn key contract in

874-532: The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation changed the flight path and removed the ejected rocket stages near Nyurbinsky District , Russia. Scientific literature collected data that indicated adverse effects of rockets on the environment and the health of the population. UDMH , a fuel used in some Russian rocket engines, is highly toxic. It is one of the reasons for acid rains and cancers in

920-567: The Soyuz descent capsule. In 2021, the Baikonur space complex was named as one of the top 10 tourist destinations in Kazakhstan. In 2023, a plan was announced to add the Gagarin's Start launch complex to the museum complex at Baikonur. The Baikonur Cosmodrome was heavily featured in the 2003 computer game Command & Conquer: Generals and in the expansion Zero Hour . The GLA captured

966-685: The Turn-Key Indovision Direct To Home (DTH) program was developed by Thomas van der Heyden. The satellite was built by a team of engineers at the US company Defense Systems Inc. (DSI), which had up until the IndoStar program (later renamed Cakrawarta by the then president of Indonesia, Suharto ), focused on Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites for the US government, DARPA and NASA. Under the contract DSI together with its sister company International Technologies Inc. (ITI) constructed

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1012-407: The atmosphere and provide high-quality transmissions to small-diameter 80 cm antennas in regions that experience heavy rainfall such as Indonesia. A similar Ku- or C-band reception performance requires greater transmission power or much larger dish to penetrate the moist atmosphere. Due to a failed power regulator, two of the satellite's five transponders could not be used at 100% output whenever

1058-439: The commercial satellite industry. In 1995 DSI was sold to Computer Technology Associates (CTA) which was sold two years later to Orbital Sciences Corporation (later Orbital ATK , now Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems ) during the final stages of the Indostar-1 satellite integration in early 1997. The Indostar-1 satellite design was developed from scratch by Thomas van der Heyden and Dr. George Sebestyen founder of DSI, became

1104-463: 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 undertaken by the Soviet Union . A supporting town was built around the facility to provide housing, schools, and infrastructure for workers. It

1150-434: The cosmodrome's history, including images of all cosmonauts. Every crew of every expedition launched from Baikonur leaves behind a signed crew photograph that is displayed behind the glass. Baikonur's museum holds many objects related to Gagarin, including the ground control panel from his flight, his uniforms, and soil from his landing site, preserved in a silver container. One of the museum rooms also holds an older version of

1196-580: The cosmodrome. Russian scientist Afanasiy Ilich Tobonov researched mass animal deaths in the 1990s and concluded that the mass deaths of birds and wildlife in the Sakha Republic were noted only along the flight paths of space rockets launched from the Baikonur cosmodrome. Dead wildlife and livestock were usually incinerated, and the participants in these incinerations, including Tobonov himself, his brothers and inhabitants of his native village of Eliptyan, commonly died from stroke or cancer. In 1997,

1242-504: The crews commented that on their evening flight to Moscow they had seen lights on launch pads and related complexes for more than 15 minutes, and according to astronaut Thomas Stafford , "that makes Cape Kennedy look very small." According to most sources, the name Baikonur was deliberately chosen in 1961 (around the time of Gagarin's flight) to misdirect the Western Bloc to a place about 320 kilometres (200 mi) northeast of

1288-564: The first GEO LightSat, their STAR Bus platform. The Cakrawarta satellite was successfully launched into the geostationary orbital slot located at 107.7 East Longitude above Indonesia by the Ariane 44L launch vehicle on November 12, 1997, co-manifested with the Sirius-2 satellite. IndoStar-1 was the world's first commercial communications satellite to use S-band frequencies for broadcast (pioneered by van der Heyden), which efficiently penetrate

1334-419: The first human in outer space. Under the current Russian management, Baikonur remains a busy spaceport, with numerous commercial, military, and scientific missions being launched annually. The Soviet government issued Scientific Research Test Range No. 5 ( NIIP-5 ; Russian : 5-й Научно-Исследовательский Испытательный Полигон, Pyatyy Nauchno-Issledovatel'skiy Ispytatel'nyy Poligon ) on 12 February 1955. It

1380-504: The joint use of Baikonur even after the construction of Vostochny Cosmodrome . As of 2017, the first launch of the Baiterek Rocket and Space Complex was expected to occur in 2025. The Baikonur Cosmodrome has a small museum, next to two small cottages, once residences of the rocket engineer Sergei Korolev and the first cosmonaut , Yuri Gagarin . Both cottages are part of the museum complex and have been preserved. The museum

1426-533: The launch center, the small mining town and railway station of Baikonur near Jezkazgan . Leninsk, the closed city built to support the cosmodrome, was renamed Baikonur on 20 December 1995 by Boris Yeltsin . According to NASA's history of the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project , the name Baikonur was not chosen to misdirect, but was the name of the Tyuratam region before the establishment of

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1472-473: The launch complex. It was also featured in its Multiplayer Map "Launch", as well as the Zombies map "Ascension" The Baikonur Cosmodrome also serves as the inspiration for a location in the 2014 videogame Destiny . The Baikonur Cosmodrome and its surroundings serve as the setting of the 2022 French TV miniseries Infiniti . The Baikonur Cosmodrome, the city of Baikonur, and the surrounding areas (including

1518-522: The launch pad to launch an ICBM filled with bio-chemicals at an unspecified US naval base in Europe. The Americans retook it in Zero Hour. The Baikonur Cosmodrome was featured prominently in the 2010 video game Call of Duty: Black Ops . In one mission in the campaign, the main character is tasked by John F. Kennedy with destroying a Soyuz spacecraft and eliminating several high-value targets at

1564-550: The launchpads by the special Schnabel cars . Once part of the Soviet Railroad Troops , the Baikonur Railway is now served by a dedicated civilian state company. There are several rail links connecting the Baikonur Railway to the public railway of Kazakhstan and the rest of the world. The Baikonur Cosmodrome has two on-site multi-purpose airports , serving both the personnel transportation needs and

1610-465: The local population, near the cosmodrome. Valery Yakovlev, a head of the laboratory of ecosystem research of the State scientific-production union of applied ecology "Kazmechanobr", notes: "Scientists have established the extreme character of the destructive influence of the "Baikonur" space center on environment and population of the region: 11 000 tons of space scrap metal, polluted by especially toxic UDMH

1656-560: The logistics of space launches (including the delivery of the spacecraft by planes). There are scheduled passenger services from Moscow to the smaller Krayniy Airport ( IATA : BXY , ICAO : UAOL ), which however are not accessible to the public. The larger Yubileyniy Airport (Юбилейный аэропорт) ( IATA : UAON ) was where the Buran orbiter was transported to Baikonur on the back of the Antonov An-225 Mriya cargo aircraft. Although Baikonur has always been known around

1702-413: The new Soyuz-2 rocket with a planned first launch in 2023. The final launch from Gagarin's Start took place 25 September 2019. Gagarin's Start failed to receive funding (in part due to Russian invasion of Ukraine ) to modernize it for the slightly larger Soyuz-2 rocket. In 2023, it was announced that the Russian and Kazakhstan authorities plan to deactivate the site as a space launch pad and turn it into

1748-589: The project Aquila, a platform even smaller than the GEOStar-2 designed for military applications in geostationary orbit and medium Earth orbit . On March 10, 2014, Orbital introduced the GEOStar-3 platform. Not only was this a bigger platform that could generate up to 8 kW of power, but it also offered a satellite stacking feature for a dual launch option. On April 29, 2014, Orbital Sciences announced that it would merge with Alliant Techsystems to create

1794-462: The radio control system of the rocket required (at the time) receiving uninterrupted signals from ground stations hundreds of kilometres away. Additionally, the missile trajectory had to be away from populated areas. Also, it is advantageous to place space launch sites closer to the equator, as the surface of the Earth has higher rotational speed in such areas. Taking these constraints into consideration,

1840-517: The sale of the satellite bus only, with N-STAR c . With the introduction of the LEOStar satellite bus, STAR-2 was renamed as GEOStar-2 , a platform that eventually was capable of up to 5.5 kW of power production. Orbital would later introduce the GEOStar-1 platform, capable of only 1.5 kW of power production. It is not to be confused with the original STAR-1, since GEOStar-1 is actually

1886-502: The satellite was eclipsed by the Earth. During these periods, only 80 percent of the required power was available. The spacecraft, with a design life of seven years, operated successfully for 11 years, providing 60 channels of MPEG-2 digital satellite television to the 235 million people of Indonesia. On Saturday, May 16, 2009, Indovision launched the replacement for the Cakrawarta-1 (IndoStar-1) satellite, Indostar-2 (now SES-7) from

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1932-614: The source of a long-running dispute between the two countries. In an attempt to reduce its dependency on Baikonur, Russia built the Vostochny Cosmodrome in Amur Oblast . Baikonur has been a major part of Russia's contribution to the International Space Station (ISS), as it is the only spaceport from which Russian missions to the ISS are launched. It is primarily the border's position (but to

1978-509: The world as the launch site of Soviet and Russian space missions, from its outset in 1955 and until the collapse of the USSR in 1991 the primary purpose of this center was to test liquid-fueled ballistic missiles . The official (and secret) name of the center was State Test Range No. 5 or 5 GIK . It remained under the control of the Soviet and Russian Ministry of Defense until the second half of

2024-604: The years there have been different variations of the platform: IndoStar-1 IndoStar-1 , also known as Cakrawarta-1 , was a communication satellite that was launched the evening of November 12, 1997 at 21:48 GMT aboard an Ariane 44L-3 rocket from Kourou , French Guiana. As the first direct broadcasting satellite (DBS) in Asia, IndoStar-1 would initiate a new communication service for Indonesian society such as direct-to-home television. The IndoStar-1 geostationary broadcast satellite (the first STAR-1 spacecraft bus) and

2070-630: 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 General 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

2116-520: Was raised to city status in 1966 and named Leninsk ( Russian : Ленинск ). The American U-2 high-altitude reconnaissance plane found and photographed the Tyuratam missile test range for the first time on 5 August 1957. In April of 1975, in preparation for the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project , the first NASA astronauts were allowed to tour the cosmodrome. Upon their return to the United States,

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