Weight of the star harbor

Baikonur was a dream, became - abroad

The word "Baikonur" is translated from Kazakh as "rich valley." It was here in January 1955 that the builders of the world's first cosmodrome rushed. None of them dared to think that once the USSR will break up ... Now 73 thousand people live in the city. Only half of them are Russian citizens, while the Russian military court continues to operate here, Russian tax authorities and the Ministry of Internal Affairs work.

Photo: James Hill, Reuters, East News, ITAR-TASS

It was to test the R-7 launch vehicle in the Kazakh desert that the world's first cosmodrome was built. Rockets based on the R-7 delivered the first artificial satellites of the Earth and all Soviet astronauts into space. The cosmic victories of the past in the city resembles the monument “The Soyuz Rocket Rocket

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Maintaining the cosmodrome annually costs Moscow of 6 billion rubles - half the amount goes to the rental of territory from Kazakhstan

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The Russian policeman is protected by the Union TMA-19. Baikonur, December 26, 2013

Until 1995, the city was called Leninsk and had the status of a closed city: outsiders could come only on special passes. Baikonur, Lenin Square, March 22, 2014

Baikonur is still one of the leading cosmodromes in the world in the number of launches. In 2013, 23 missiles were launched from him. In the picture: take-off rockets "Soyuz TMA-06M", October 23, 2012