Baikonur Cosmodrome

Kazakh Steppe, Kazakhstan

Oct 4, 1957

FIRST LAUNCH

ROSCOSMOS

PRIMARY OPERATOR

LAUNCH PADS

Leaflet.js | © OpenStreetMap

ABOUT THE LAUNCH SITE

Description:

Baikonur Cosmodrome, located in the desert steppes of Kazakhstan, is the world's oldest and largest space launch facility and has been the launch site for numerous historic space missions, including the first human spaceflight by Yuri Gagarin. With its unparalleled history and infrastructure, Baikonur Cosmodrome remains a vital component of the global space industry and a symbol of humanity's quest for exploration and discovery.

Quick Facts:

It covers an area of approximately 6,717 square kilometers (2,600 square miles) and is situated near the city of Baikonur.
It was originally constructed by the Soviet Union in the late 1950s and became the launch site for the iconic space missions, including Yuri Gagarin's historic flight, which made him the first human to orbit the Earth on April 12, 1961.
Despite being located in Kazakhstan, Baikonur Cosmodrome is not part of the Kazakh Space Agency. Instead, it is operated under a lease agreement between Russia and Kazakhstan.

Quotes from History

Orbiting Earth in the spaceship, I saw how beautiful our planet is. People, let us preserve and increase this beauty, and not destroy it!
Yuri Gagarin, The first person in space (1961)