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66-601: Space Command was one of four components of the Aerospace Defence Forces, the others were Air and Missile Defence Command , Plesetsk Cosmodrome and the arsenal . Subsumed under Space Command were three centres with their associated stations. One centre is the 153rd Main Trial Centre for Testing and Control of Space Means named after G.S. Titov . Located in Krasnoznamensk outside Moscow it

132-490: 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

198-404: A Vostok-2 rocket launched Kosmos 112 . In total, 308 orbital and two suborbital launches were conducted from the complex, using R-7A, Vostok-2, Vostok-2M , Voskhod and Soyuz-U rockets. The last launch to use the complex was of a Soyuz-U with Bion 9 on 15 September 1989. Since this launch, the pad has been disassembled. Site 43 , also known as SK-3 and SK-4 , is a launch complex at

264-626: 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

330-778: A joint decision of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and the USSR Council of Ministers created the "Research Proving Ground missile and space weapons USSR Ministry of Defense" near the Ilez railway station, Belsky District of Arkhangelsk Oblast. In the summer of 1963, the state leadership decided to use the Plesetsk launch facilities for launching spacecraft. In September 1963,

396-664: 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

462-405: A missile base, it was converted for use as a space launch complex. The first orbital launch was of a Voskhod rocket with Kosmos 313 on 3 December 1969. Both pads were damaged by explosions in the 1980s. At 16:01 UTC on 18 March 1980, 48 people were killed when a Vostok-2M exploded during fueling operations at Pad 4. The disaster injured dozens more, while damaging the pad so severely that it

528-644: 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

594-463: A rocket lost thrust and fell back into the flame trench seconds after launch. Instead, the parts were eventually used on Sea Launch 's Odyssey launch platform. When Russia began development of the Angara rocket, launch pads at both Plesetsk and Baikonur were planned. Several existing sites at Plesetsk were considered, including Site 41/1 , Site 16/2 , and Site 32 ; Site 35/1 was determined to be

660-570: A two launch pads, Site 32/1 and Site 32/2, which were used between 1977 and 2009. It has the GRAU index 11P868 . Site 32 is, along with Site 35 and Site 41 one of three sites under consideration for the Angara programme. In 1970, the building of a highly automated launch complex for Tsyklon-3 booster began at Site 32, which was designed by Omsk Transmash Design Bureau led by Chief Designer Vladimir Nikolayevich Chelomey . The first launch from Site 32

726-628: Is Europe's only operational orbital spaceport and the northernmost spaceport in the world. Originally developed as an ICBM site for the R-7 missile, it has also served for numerous satellite launches using the R-7 and other rockets. Its high latitude makes it useful only for certain types of launches, especially the Molniya orbits , so for much of the site's history it functioned as a secondary location, with most orbital launches taking place from Baikonur , in

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792-593: Is a launch complex used by Russia 's Angara rocket. The complex has a single launch pad , Site 35/1, which was first used for the maiden flight of the Angara in July 2014. Site 35 was originally intended to support the Zenit rocket, which the Soviet Union saw as a replacement for the R-7 series . The construction of a Zenit launch complex at Plesetsk was authorised in 1976; however, development did not begin until

858-456: 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

924-477: 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

990-628: Is responsible for controlling Russia's military satellite constellation . It is also responsible for the testing of new equipment and has a network of remote monitoring stations. The 820th Main Centre for Missile Attack Warning is the centre of Russia's missile attack warning network. It is located near Solnechnogorsk outside Moscow. Subsumed under it are a number of radar stations, with two, Gabala and Balkhash , located outside Russia. The 821st Main Space Surveillance Centre

1056-642: 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

1122-471: Is the centre of Russia's space surveillance network. It is located near Noginsk outside Moscow. Subsumed under it are several space surveillance only facilities such as Okno and Krona . It also gets data from the early warning radars. An article by United Russia said that Space Command would consist of the entirety of the Space Forces, however as implemented Plesetsk Cosmodrome, formerly part of

1188-592: The Baikonur Cosmodrome following the explosion of a Soyuz-U rocket. Work to rebuild the complex began in 1979, and was completed in 1981. The first launch from Site 16 was conducted by a Molniya-M with an Oko satellite on 19 February 1981. Site 16 has been used for Soyuz-U and Molniya-M launches, and is still in service as of 2012. Site 32 at the Cosmodrome is a launch complex formerly used by Tsyklon-3 carrier rockets . It consists of

1254-534: 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

1320-566: The Centre Spatial Guyanais at 5° north or the Kennedy Space Center at 28° 31' north). In addition, the high latitude means that lift capacity for boosters launched from Plesetsk is slightly lower than Baikonur launches. By the 2000s, Russia had completely phased out military launches from Baikonur. The new all-Russian Angara rocket was designed to be launched primarily from Plesetsk (and also eventually from

1386-519: 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

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1452-522: The Kazakh SSR . With the end of the Soviet Union , Baikonur became a foreign territory, and Kazakhstan charged $ 115 million usage fees annually. Consequently, Plesetsk has seen considerably more activity since the 2000s. Plesetsk ( 62°55′32.32″N 40°34′40.36″E  /  62.9256444°N 40.5778778°E  / 62.9256444; 40.5778778 ) is used especially for military satellites placed into high inclination and polar orbits since

1518-756: 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 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

1584-534: The Vostochny Cosmodrome ). In May 2007, a new ICBM, called the RS-24 has been tested and launched there, and is seen as eventually replacing the aging RS-18/ UR-100Ns (SS-19 Stiletto) and RS-20/ R-36Ms (SS-18 Satan) that are the backbone of Russia's missile forces. In September 2011, Space Forces spokesman Colonel Alexei Zolotukhin said Russia will spend over 5 billion rubles (US$ 170 million) on

1650-510: 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

1716-656: The Angara A5 took place almost six years later, on 14 December 2020. Site 41 , also known as Lesobaza and SK-1 , was a launch complex at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in Russia . It consisted of a single pad, Site 41/1, and was used by R-7 derived rockets between 1959 and 1989. Site 41 was originally built for use by R-7A Semyorka missiles. During the Cuban Missile Crisis , an armed missile

1782-454: 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

1848-435: The Cosmodrome. It consists of a single pad, Site 16/2 , and has been used by R-7 derived rockets since 1960. It has launched a total of 136 rockets across its lifespan. Site 16 was originally built for use by R-7A Semyorka missiles, however no launches were conducted from the complex whilst it was operational. After its retirement from service in 1966, it was cannibalised for parts which were needed to repair Site 31/6 at

1914-514: The Council of Ministers of the USSR 3rd ALM and NIIP converted to "53 minutes Research Proving Ground". Three test management, employees of combat duty, tests of rocket and space complexes, holding and processing of telemetry and trajectory measurements. And from 1964, on the basis of rocket connection started the establishment of research proving ground missiles and space weapons. Such conversion were

1980-532: 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

2046-401: The Plesetsk Cosmodrome in Russia . It consists of a two pads, Sites 43/3 and 43/4, and has been used by R-7 derived rockets since the early 1960s. The site was originally built for use by R-7A Semyorka missiles. The first launch to use the complex was an R-7A test on 21 December 1965, from Site 43/3. The first launch from 43/4 followed on 25 July 1967. After its retirement from service as

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2112-567: 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

2178-487: The Space Forces, was not under Space Command. Plesetsk Cosmodrome Download coordinates as: Plesetsk Cosmodrome (Russian: Космодром «Плесецк» , romanized : Kosmodrom "Plesetsk" , IPA: [kəsmɐˈdrom plʲɪˈsʲet͡sk] ) is a Russian spaceport located in Mirny, Arkhangelsk Oblast , about 800 km north of Moscow and approximately 200 km south of Arkhangelsk . As of 2024, it

2244-404: 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

2310-485: The completion of Site 45 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome , which was also constructed for Zenit. Construction at Site 35 began in the mid-1980s, but the programme was abandoned following the dissolution of the Soviet Union . Following the cancellation of Zenit launches from Plesetsk, Russia had originally planned to use parts constructed for Site 35 to repair one of the Zenit pads at Baikonur that had been heavily damaged when

2376-434: 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

2442-580: 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,

2508-504: 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

2574-466: The development and expansion of the cosmodrome in 2011. This includes the reconstruction of a local motorway and modernising the energy supply system. New facilities will be built, including a dormitory and hospital. PL-19 Nudol anti-ballistic missile systems are located at the Cosmodrome, at the former launch site of the Tsyklon-2 rocket. Site 16 , also known as SK-2 , is a launch complex at

2640-399: The existence of Plesetsk Cosmodrome until 1983. The use of the cosmodrome will likely increase in the future since there are concerns with security in operating the Baikonur Cosmodrome in now-independent Kazakhstan , which demands rent for its continued use. Plesetsk is not ideally suited for low inclination or geostationary launches because of its high latitude of 62° north (as compared to

2706-428: The favourable geographical location and a significant number of systems already deployed by the end of 1964 were on duty, four launchers R-7A, seven PU P-16U, and three PU R-9A. Since then, the landfill has developed in two directions: rocket and space. 17 March 1966 was the space birthday of Plesetsk. That day was the first missile launching of the rocket booster Vostok with space vehicle Kosmos 112 . Since that time,

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2772-504: 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

2838-533: 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

2904-473: 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

2970-522: 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

3036-550: 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

3102-465: 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

3168-560: 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

3234-410: The most suitable. Construction began in 2004 but was not completed until April 2014. The Angara made its maiden flight—in the one-off Angara-1.2pp configuration—from Site 35/1 on 9 July 2014, flying a successful suborbital test mission. The first orbital launch from the site was the inaugural launch of the Angara A5 on 23 December 2014, which carried a mass simulator. A second orbital test flight of

3300-413: 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

3366-599: The orbit of the Kosmos 112 satellite in 1966 and deduced it had not been launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome . Meteor 1-2 satellite launch from Plesetsk on 6 October 1969 was one of the earliest launches observed and photographed from Finland . After the end of the Cold War , it was learned that the CIA had begun to suspect the existence of an ICBM launch site at Plesetsk in the late 1950s. The Soviet Union did not officially admit

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3432-462: 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,

3498-438: The range for falling debris is clear to the north which is largely uninhabited Arctic and polar terrain. It is situated in a region of taiga , or flat terrain with boreal pine forests. The Soyuz rocket , Cosmos-3M , Rokot , Tsyklon , and Angara are launched from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome. The heavy Proton and Zenit rockets can only be land-launched from Baikonur (Zenit may also be launched at sea). Plesetsk Cosmodrome

3564-562: The rocket base "Angara" has become Plesetsk Cosmodrome. Construction started in 1957 and it was declared operational for R-7 rockets in December 1959. The urban-type settlement of Plesetsk in Arkhangelsk Oblast had a railway station, essential for the transport of missile components. A new town for the support of the facility was named Mirny , Russian for "peaceful". By 1997, more than 1,500 launches to space had been made from

3630-488: The site, more than from any other launch facility, although the usage has declined significantly since the break-up of the Soviet Union. Because Plesetsk was used primarily for military launches, especially Zenit photo reconnaissance satellites , which were launched in large numbers during the 1970s-80s, the USSR did not admit to its existence, but it was discovered by British physics teacher Geoffrey Perry and his students at Kettering Grammar School , who carefully analysed

3696-543: 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

3762-662: The spaceport until 2050. It is jointly managed by Roscosmos and 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

3828-458: 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

3894-630: 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

3960-468: Was conducted from pad 2 on 24 June 1977, with the first from Site 32/1 following on 23 January 1980. The last launch from Site 32/1 occurred on 28 December 2001. Site 32/2 was retired on 30 January 2009, along with the Tsyklon-3. All 122 Tsyklon-3 launches were conducted from the site. 57 launches were recorded as having been from pad 1 and 65 were recorded from pad 2. Site 35 at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome

4026-476: Was named after the town of Plesetsk . The first Soviet Combat formation of intercontinental ballistic missiles R-7 of general designer Sergei Korolev had to be located in that place, in thick northern taiga to the south of Arkhangelsk. The official birthday of the proving ground was 15 July 1957. That day Colonel Gregorjev assumed his post as the missile unit commander. By 15 July 1961, four missile complexes for R-7 ICBMs were at combat status. In January 1963,

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4092-544: Was not used again until 1984. On 18 June 1987, a Soyuz-U rocket exploded at liftoff on Pad 3. Both were rebuilt, and are in service as of 2009. Baikonur Cosmodrome Download coordinates as: The Baikonur Cosmodrome 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

4158-485: Was originally developed by the Soviet Union as a launch site for intercontinental ballistic missiles under the leadership and supervision of lieutenant general Galaktion Alpaidze . On 11 January 1957, the Soviet government passed the resolution about the foundation of a special military object with the secret name "Angara". This secret object had to be situated in Plesetsk District , Arkhangelsk Oblast. It

4224-433: Was placed on Site 41. It would have had a response time of 8–12 hours should an order have been given to launch it. No launches were conducted from Site 41 whilst it was operational. In 1963, the complex was converted for use by carrier rockets . The first launch from the complex was a suborbital test of an R-7A Semyorka missile, on 14 December 1965. The first orbital launch from the complex occurred on 17 March 1966, when

4290-520: 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,

4356-529: Was renamed " Gagarin's Start " in honour of Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin , who piloted Vostok 1 and became 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

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