Baikonur ( ; ) is a city in
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...
on the northern bank of the
Syr Darya river. It is currently leased and administered by the
Russian Federation as an
enclave until 2050. It was constructed to serve the
Baikonur Cosmodrome with administrative offices and employee housing. During the Soviet period, the town was known as Leninsk, and was sometimes referred to as Zvezdograd (). It was officially renamed Baikonur by Russian president
Boris Yeltsin on December 20, 1995.
The Russian controlled area is an ellipse measuring east to west by north to south, with the cosmodrome situated at the area's centre.
Foreign visitors and tourists can visit the cosmodrome and city but need to obtain a specific permit from
Roscosmos.
History
The original
Baikonur (Kazakh for "wealthy brown", i.e. "fertile land with many herbs") is a
mining town 320 kilometres northeast of the present location, near
Dzhezkazgan in Kazakhstan's
Karagandy Region. Starting with
Vostok 1 in April 1961, the launch site was given this name to cause confusion and keep the location secret. (The original Baikonur's residents took advantage of the confusion by ordering and receiving many scarce materials before government officials discovered the deception.)
Baikonur's railway station predates the base and retains the old name of
Tyuratam. This was the original Soviet railway station (railhead) on the
Moscow to Tashkent Railway that the Cosmodrome was initially named after.
The fortunes of the city have varied according to those of the
Soviet or
Russia
Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
n space program and its
Baikonur Cosmodrome.
Due to the city's military and scientific significance, it was
closed off by Soviet authorities. It did not appear on maps available to the general public during the Soviet period prior to
perestroika.
The Soviet government established the Nauchno-Issledovatel'skii Ispytatel'nyi Poligon N.5 (NIIIP-5), or Scientific-Research Test Range N.5 by its decree of 12 February 1955. The
U-2 high-altitude
reconnaissance plane found and photographed the Tyuratam missile test range (cosmodrome Baikonur) for the first time on 5 August 1957.
The town has unique ties with space, and hence the history of the rocket building and space binds all the sights in the area and the cosmodrome. However, there are only a few exceptions: old locomotive, an Orthodox Church and a new mosque.
The city administratively belongs to the
Odintsovsky District of
Moscow Oblast
Moscow Oblast (, , informally known as , ) is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (an oblast). With a population of 8,524,665 (Russian Census (2021), 2021 Census) living in an area of , it is one of the most densely populate ...
.
Climate
Baikonur features a
cold desert climate (''BWk''). Summers are hot with July highs averaging slightly over , while winters are cold, with longer periods of sustained below-freezing temperatures.
Places of interest
South of city center, near the Syr Darya River there is a large park with several sports and amusement facilities. Among these is a ferris wheel, which is no longer in use. The park is located at coordinates .
Gallery
file:Baikonur CIA U-2.gif, U-2 photograph of R-7 Launch Pad in Toretam
file:Baikonur from top 2002.jpg, Baikonur and Syr Darya River
file:Baykonur city entry 2008.jpg, Entrance to the city
file:Kazakh boy with a small camel. Baikonur-city, march 2007.JPG, Kazakh boy wearing a national costume at the celebration of Nauryz event in Baikonur with a camel
See also
*
List of closed cities
References
Further reading
* "Testing of rocket and space technology - the business of my life" Events and facts -
A.I. Ostashev,
Korolyov, 200
* "Baikonur. Korolev. Yangel." - M. I. Kuznetsk,
Voronezh: IPF "Voronezh", 1997, ;
«At risk»– A. A. Toul,
Kaluga, "the Golden path", 2001.
* "Unknown Baikonur" - edited by B. I. Posysaeva, M.: "globe", 2001.
* "Rocket and space feat Baikonur" - Vladimir Порошков, the "Patriot" publishers 2007.
*
A.I. Ostashev, ''Sergey Pavlovich Korolyov - The Genius of the 20th Century'' — 2010 M. of Public Educational Institution of Higher Professional Training MGUL .
* "Bank of the Universe" - edited by Boltenko A. C.,
Kyiv, 2014., publishing house "Phoenix",
* "We grew hearts in Baikonur" - Author: Eliseev V. I. M: publisher OAO MPK in 2018,
External links
RussianSpaceWeb.com on Baikonur town
*
{{Authority control
Cities and towns in Kazakhstan
Populated places established in 1955
Populated places in Kyzylorda Region
Closed cities
Regions of Kazakhstan
1955 establishments in the Soviet Union