Baikonur
The world's first cosmodrome was built on the land of Kazakhstan in Kyzylorda Region in the second half of the 50’s in the twentieth century. This is where the first artificial Earth satellite was launched in October 1957 and it was from here, from Baikonur, that the first man was launched into space. The flight of Yuri Gagarin on April 12, 1961 began the era of space exploration by men.
In addition to the cosmodrome, near Tyuratam railway station, a town was built with the same name, where experts maintaining the cosmodrome and their families lived and continue to live. The city is home for the citizens of Russia and of Kazakhstan. Since currently the Cosmodrome is leased by Kazakhstan to Russia through the year 2050.
Baikonur Complex can without exaggeration be called an open air museum. The houses where legendary design engineer, Academician Sergei Korolyov and astronaut Yuri Gagarin lived were preserved at the Gagarin's Start for future generations. Permanent exhibitions in a number of museums in the city and on the actual launch site are devoted to the history of the Soviet space exploration, where all visitors are invited.
Today Baikonur is the world's largest spaceport, also leading in the number of launches. Its infrastructure includes 9 launching sites consisting of 15 launch pads for launching carriers, 4 launching devices for intercontinental ballistic missiles testing, 11 integration houses accommodating 34 technical areas for final preparation of launching vehicles and spacecrafts, etc., are placed.
