World’s largest cosmodrome Baikonur celebrated its 60th anniversary on June 2nd 2015. The road to the space started from its launch pads: in 1957, the R-7 launch vehicle with the Sputnik, the first-ever satellite, was launched from Baikonur and on April 12th 1961, Yuri Gagarin performed the first-ever manned flight from Baikonur, TASS reports.
Among other legendary milestones in the history of Baikonur are: the testing of the ‘lunar’ launch vehicle N-1 and launch of the Buran space shuttle in 1988. As well as launch of the Zarya module in 1998, which marked the start of construction of the International Space Station. It is believed that Baikonur was founded on June 2nd 1955, when the General Staff of the Soviet Armed Forces approved the organizational and staff structure of the proving ground (military unit No. 11284) intended for testing of rockets and space vehicles. And today Baikonur is regarded as the world's most reliable and actively used cosmodrome. Over 2,500 launches of launch vehicles with the spacecraft and probes of different types have been performed here. Also more than 130 cosmonauts and astronauts travelled to space from the spaceport.
"Baikonur is a testing and launch site, and for us it used to be a training ground where we studied what had been done previously in order to understand what will be done next. That’s really a cornerstone of Soviet and Russian cosmonautics and, moreover, the history of the world cosmonautics. Astronauts from the European Space Agency and NASA also travelled to space from there," cosmonaut Sergei Krikalyov, who is currently Deputy CEO of the Central Research Institute of Mechanical Engineering, told TASS.
Krikalyov, who owns a record in the area of duration of a space mission said he had visited Baikonur for the first time long before he appeared there as a member of the crew. As a young engineer, he took part in preparation of spacecraft for launches; he participated in Buran program. According to him, the alloy of the past and the future strikes a visitor at Baikonur. "The “alloy of history” is what strikes at Baikonur. The stories we all have read about reminds us of Gagarin’s flight, the launches of moon rockets - and when I got there for the first time the pads for the ‘lunar’ rockets - and on the other hand, there is the living present there, because the launches of spacecraft, modules and other vehicles are continuing," he said.
In the course of its 60-years history Baikonur has changed. And specialists say that it changed for the better. He recalled the huge size of the spaceport, where distances of dozens of kilometers separate sites and it makes maintenance of the infrastructure more challenging. "There was a period when everything started falling into decay there and the infrastructure began to fall apart but now things are getting much better and conditions for the people who live and work there are obviously improving. Earlier the work was above anything else and the living conditions were rather hard. Now the situation is changing for the better," Krikalyov said.
At present, Russia is leasing Baikonur from Kazakhstan for $115 million a year and is simultaneously building a new cosmodrome - Vostochny, in Amur Region. The first spacecraft should be launched from Vostochny this year. However, Vostochny’s construction does not mean Russia is going to abandon Baikonur. "I think Baikonur’s functionality should be kept. A new Vostochny cosmodrome is under construction, but that doesn’t mean Russia will abandon Baikonur, because much experience has been gained there. I think Russia will be using both spaceports simultaneously and that’s absolutely normal," Krikalev said.
The third Kazakh astronaut will travel to space from Baikonur soon. It was reported by the First vice-premier of Kazakhstan, Bakitzhan Sagintaev, at a solemn meeting dedicated to the anniversary of the Baikonur. “Thanks to agreements between presidents of Kazakhstan and Russian Federation the third Kazakh astronaut will travel to space from Baikonur in the near-term,” he said.
The vice-premier reminded that in 1991 the space flight of the first Kazakh astronaut Toktar Aubakirov began at Baikonur; the second Kazakh astronaut Talgat Musabaev flew to the space three times from Baikonur. He performed seven spacewalks with a total duration of 41 hours. A total of “160 cosmonauts and astronauts from around 30 countries of the world travelled to space from Baikonur. And the first thing the crews returning from ISS see after landing is Kazakh land,” Sagintaev noted.
According to him, Baikonur keeps its leading positions among the world’s launch sites. “Almost one-fifth of launches is accounted for this spaceport; a total of over 2500 rockets and 1500 spacecraft have been launched from Baikonur in the course of its history,” the vice-premier said.