How it began
The Soviet government ordered Scientific Research Test Range No. 5 on February 12, 1955, and the site was founded on June 2, 1955, beside the village of Tyuratam in the Kazakh steppe. It began as the test center for the R-7, the first intercontinental ballistic missile, and was soon expanded for space launches. A commission led by General Vasily Voznyuk, influenced by R-7 chief designer Sergey Korolyov, chose the location. The territory is now part of Kazakhstan.
How it works
The site was picked for technical reasons. The rocket's radio control system needed uninterrupted signals from ground stations hundreds of kilometers away, so the range had to be surrounded by plains. The flight path had to avoid populated areas, and a more southerly latitude gave rockets more benefit from the Earth's rotation. Building the launch pads and several hundred kilometers of new road and rail made it one of the most costly Soviet infrastructure projects.
Who pushed back
The range was built in secret. An American U-2 aircraft first photographed it on August 5, 1957. According to most sources the name Baikonur was chosen around 1961 to point Western observers to a mining town about 320 kilometers away, though NASA's history of the Apollo-Soyuz project says the name was already used for the Tyuratam region.
What changed first
The R-7 was first launched successfully from the range on August 21, 1957. On October 4, 1957, a modified R-7 put Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite, into orbit from the same pad. Luna 1 left for the Moon in January 1959, and on April 12, 1961, Yuri Gagarin lifted off to become the first human in space. Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman in space, followed in 1963. The pad used for Sputnik and Gagarin was later named Gagarin's Start.
What lasted
Baikonur remained the base for Soviet and then Russian crewed flight. After the Soviet Union dissolved in 1991 the site lay within independent Kazakhstan, and Russia has leased it since 1994 under an agreement that runs to 2050 at about 115 million US dollars a year. Its position shaped the 51.6 degree orbit of the International Space Station, and from 2011 to 2020 it was the only site launching crews to the station.
Where it stands today
Russia still launches Soyuz crew and cargo missions to the International Space Station from Baikonur, while building the Vostochny Cosmodrome to reduce its dependence on the site. Gagarin's Start saw its last launch on September 25, 2019, and in 2023 Russian and Kazakh authorities announced plans to turn it into a museum.
