Overview of Baikonur Cosmodrome: description, history and interesting facts

The Baikonur cosmodrome, where 1,500 spacecraft was launched in the past half-century, still leads the number of launches. Thanks to him, the Soviet Union was able to take a leading position in the development of the space industry and science, leaving behind the United States. The Kyzylkum Desert became the historical place from where the first cosmonaut of the planet Yuri Gagarin flew into space, which laid more than a hundred astronauts in the orbit of the Earth, 62 of whom are foreigners.

With what began Baikonur

The 50th years of the 20th century were marked by the growing rivalry between the USSR and the USA in the military sphere, in particular, the creation of intercontinental ballistic missiles. The construction of the Baikonur cosmodrome was one of the stages of rivalry, during which the first Soviet intercontinental ballistic missile was to be tested.

Since the design range of its flight was more than eight thousand kilometers, there was a need for a new route passing through the Asian part of the USSR and at the same time possessing desert areas suitable for the elimination of missiles that had worked their stages and construction of measuring points.

The created special commission considered several options: Dagestan, Mari ASSR, Astrakhan and Kyzylorda oblasts. The last option more than the others met the requirements of the developers of the R-7 missile, since it was possible to optimally place radio control points with a ballistic missile and use the rotation of the Earth at the start.

In February 1955 the Council of Ministers of the USSR adopted Decree No. 292-181, which prescribes the beginning of the construction of the facility. So in the desert of Kazakhstan appeared "Polygon No. 5" - the future cosmodrome Baikonur.

Location of the cosmodrome

After the reconnaissance of the regions of the USSR proposed for construction of the cosmodrome, the government commission chose the desert part of Kazakhstan, located to the left of the Aral Sea, near the village of Baikonyr. The allocated site was located between Kazalinsky and Dzhusaly - district centers of the Kyzylorda region.

The area was characterized by a flat terrain and a small population. In addition, there was a motorway and the Moscow-Tashkent railway line (the Tura-Tam junction), as well as the Central Asian river of the Syr Darya. These factors solved the problems with the delivery of construction materials, and in the future - missiles and equipment.

But the most important factor was the finding of an object near the equator, which facilitated the launching of missiles, since in this case the Earth's rotation speed was additionally used.

From the first barrack to the first start

In early 1955, pioneers - military builders of eight battalions - arrived in the area of the future Baikonur cosmodrome.

The first task of the arriving specialists was the construction of housing. First wooden barracks were built.

Next, military and civilian builders were to form a production base, which included concrete plants, mortar knots, warehouses for building materials, and woodworking and sawmilling.

By the end of 1956, the first objects of the cosmodrome were built. Preparatory work for testing missile systems began.

By the spring of 1957, a measuring complex was created throughout the territory of Baikonur. On May 5, 1957, the first commissioning complex was commissioned by the government commission. The spaceport was ready for the launch of the intercontinental missile.

The solution of this task in such a short time was associated with serious difficulties.

Difficulties on the way to space

First of all, the builders met with the harsh climate of Kazakhstan and the unsettledness of life. At first they were tents, then, with the advent of spring, - dugouts. The first wooden barracks appeared only in May.

At the end of July 1955, construction of the launch pad No. 1 began. Construction was carried out around the clock, as the deadline for the delivery of the facility was short.

Initially, there was a shortage of equipment. According to the participant in the construction site of the cosmodrome Colonel, retired Sergei Alekseenko, at the disposal of the builders there were only 5 scrapers, 2 bulldozers, 2 excavators and 5 dump trucks. With the help of these funds it was necessary to make a foundation ditch 50 meters deep in a short time. And this is more than 1 million cubic meters of rock!

There was also a scrap of clay, which it was impossible to take with an excavator. The situation was saved by twenty tons of explosives. The risk was enormous, since blasting was prohibited. But everything was done for the first launch of the rocket.

First starts

The first launch from the Baikonur cosmodrome was made 10 days after the signing of the act of acceptance of the cosmodrome by the state commission.

May 15, 1957 successfully launched intercontinental ballistic missile 8K71 № 5L, which later became the prototype of the R-7 rocket "Soyuz". However, only on October 4 of the same year the first artificial Earth satellite was launched into space .

Then there were a lot of first of its kind starts:

• September 14, 1959 - the launch of the automatic station "Luna-2", descended to the surface of the Earth's satellite;
• October 4, 1959 - the launch of "Luna-3", photographed the reverse side of the moon;
• August 19, 1960 - launch of the Vostok rocket, which had a return capsule with dogs;
• April 12, 1961 - the launch of the Vostok launch vehicle with the first cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin.

Phrases: "Baikonur Cosmodrome", "Missile Launch", "Manned Flight" gradually became familiar for citizens of our country.

Development of the cosmodrome

One construction complex was not limited to the construction of the Baikonur cosmodrome. In the future, complexes were constructed for the missiles of different load-carrying capacity categories: Cyclone-M light, Soyuz, Zenit, Molniya medium, Proton heavy and Energia of the superheavy class.

Four years after the first launch complex was put into operation, another one was built for Soyuz, similar to the first one.

In 1965, the first launcher for the Proton was commissioned, and a year later, the second one. Two installations for the Cyclone carrier rocket were commissioned in 1967. Further construction and commissioning of new facilities is stopped until 1979. In 1979, in Kyzylorda oblast, where the Baikonur cosmodrome is located, two more Proton installations are being launched.

The accompanying infrastructure of the cosmodrome continues to develop.

Overview of the cosmodrome

Overview of the Baikonur Cosmodrome from the air is impressive and allows us to estimate its scale. First of all, its area is impressive - 6717 square kilometers. The length from south to north is 75 km, from east to west - 90 km.

In this case, it is correct to speak about the Baikonur complex, which consists of the cosmodrome and the city proper.

The ground infrastructure consists of twelve starting complexes. True, only six are in operation: for Soyuz, Zenit, Proton, Energia, Energia-Buran rockets.

Eleven installation and test buildings have been built, where carrier rockets (RN) are prepared, upper stages for launch. There is also a measuring complex and a computer center, an oxygen-nitrogen plant for the production of cryogenic products.

Measuring points are spread across the territory of Russia and Kazakhstan according to the routes of the flight of rockets and areas of fall of the steps.

Interesting details

What else can be said about such an object as Baikonur Cosmodrome? The history of the cosmodrome has preserved many interesting facts of that time.

It is interesting first of all the origin of its name. In the area of the northern spurs of Alatau was located a small Kazakh village of Boykonur (in Russian it sounds like Baikonur).

Since the missile test site was a secret facility, it was decided to begin construction of a false cosmodrome near this village and call it Baikonur in order to confuse American intelligence. The Soviet mass media pointed out the village of Baikonur as the place of the subsequent launches of the satellites, although in reality it was carried out from the test site No. 5, which for some time had the conditional name "Taiga".

It is interesting that the "cosmodrome" was guarded until the end of the sixties.

During the digging of one pit under the launching pad, a cast of ancient people was found (the age of the find was from 10 to 30 thousand years). When General Korolev learned about this, he called this place happy for future rocket launches.

There were facts from the field of "anecdotes from life." Somehow, 12 (twelve!) Tons of alcohol were discharged to service the systems. In reality, the washing of systems took only 7 tons. In order not to cut the plan for future supplies, decided to secretly drain the remaining alcohol into a pit and fall asleep.

However, this mystery was somehow revealed by the construction personnel, and the "dry" law that reigned on the site was instantly trampled upon. True, this problem was quickly resolved by the leadership of the Baikonur cosmodrome: the alcohol in the pit was burned.

Baikonur after the collapse of the USSR

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the cosmodrome was outside the borders of the USSR's successor to Russia and became the property of Kazakhstan. Naturally, there were difficulties in its operation. Conditions of life and work of military builders have deteriorated sharply. This caused a riot on their part. Many of them, having received leave, did not return back.

A similar story occurred in 1993 with soldiers preparing the Proton LV. The reason for their outrage was the incomplete part. The rocketeers had to work for three.

In 2003, military builders again rebelled. This time the reason for the riot was a rumor that after the construction of the cosmodrome "Vostochny" Baikonur - the spaceport, the site of which was still used for launching Russian rockets, will be closed, and its military contingent will be sent to Siberia.

As a result of uncontrolled outflow of servicemen, the population of the city of Baikonur decreased. Many of the apartments were empty. The tenants moved away without even taking the furniture. Inhabitants of nearby auls, vacant apartments were occupied by self-seizing or stolen.

The agreement between Russia and Kazakhstan on leasing the landfill, concluded in 1994, saved the situation. To fix it, huge funds were allocated.

Baikonur today

Today citizens of two countries live in the city: Russia and Kazakhstan. Gone are the problems with the "communal". The animated Baikonur provides launches of LV.

Since January 2016 to the present time, eight launch vehicles have been successfully launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome. Six more launches are planned.

However, not all plans of Russia meet the understanding of the Kazakh side.

The matter is that from the "Baikonur" rocket launches "Proton", which works on highly toxic fuels.

In this regard, each launch from the Baikonur cosmodrome causes dissatisfaction on the part of the Kazakh authorities, especially when the launch is unsuccessful. And since environmental damage is being inflicted, Kazakhstan issues large bills to Russia.

Humor of Baikonur

At the entrance to the city you can see a monument with a picture of miners emerging from the face in the lower part of it, and in the upper part of the first satellite. "From the cave - into space" - this name was given to the monument by the inhabitants of Baikonur.

There are in the city and the "Japanese Islands", and "Small Land", and "Damansky" - this is its microdistricts. It is not hard to guess what caused these names to appear. Of course, those difficult situations through which Baikonur residents had to pass - the builders of the Baikonur cosmodrome.