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July 8, 2008
IWG Report 2007
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Baikonur Cosmodrome
| Country: | Russia |
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The Baikonur Cosmodrome, also known as the TyNIIP-5 test range, is the oldest space launch facility in the world. It is located at the Tyuratam junction on the right bank of the Syr Darya River in Kazakhstan. Over the years, Baikonur has served as the test site for Russian intercontinental ballistic missiles such as the SS-6 Sapwood (R-7), the SS-7 Sadler (R-16), the SS-8 Sasin (R-9), the SS-9 Scarp (R-36), and the SS-19 Stiletto (RS-18), as well as such space launch vehicles as the Proton-K, the Rokot, the Soyuz-U, the Molniya-M, the Tsyklon-2, and the Zenit.
In 1955, the Soviet Union’s Council of Ministers decided to build a new missile test range in Kazakhstan, in preparation for launching the SS-6 ICBM. Two years later, construction of the Baikonur Cosmodrome was completed.(1) Over the years, many have concluded that because of its name, “Baikonur,” the facility must be near the city of Baikonur. In truth, the launch facilities are located approximately 400 km to the southwest near Tyuratam. The Soviets actually built the city of Leninsk near the facility to provide apartments, schools, and administrative support to the tens of thousands of workers stationed at the launch facility.(2)
For the last half century, the Baikonur Cosmodrome has served as the source of all manned Soviet and Russian launches and of most lunar, planetary, and geostationary orbit launches. It has been traditionally subdivided into three regions, which used to be dominated by the launch and processing facilities of the major players in the Soviet rocketry: Sergei Korolev, Mikhail Yangel and Vladimir Chelomei. These regions are known as “center,” “right flank,” and “left flank.” At least four ground control stations track the missile and rocket launches and also communicate with orbiting spacecraft. They are part of a network of control stations operated by the Russian military, and spread across the former Soviet Union. At the peak of the Cold War this network also included air- and sea-based control stations.(3)
In October 1957, the world’s first man-made satellite, Sputnik, was launched into orbit from the Baikonur Cosmodrome on a SS-6 rocket. That same year, an American U-2 spy plane located the Baikonur range and photographed the SS-6 launch pad, although the Soviet Union refused to confirm its existence and whereabouts.(4) Not until four years later did Soviet authorities named Baikonur as the launch site for Yuri Gagarin’s space flight, and thus officially acknowledge its existence. Tragically, Baikonur also became known as the site of the worst disaster in the history of rocketry, when in 1960 a SS-7 ICBM exploded during launch preparation and killed 125 people, including the Commander-in-Chief of Strategic Rocket Forces, General Mitrofan Nedelin.(5)
Following the collapse of the Soviet Empire in 1991, Kazakhstan asserted jurisdiction over Baikonur and claimed ownership of the facility. In order to continue testing missiles and launching spacecraft, Russia elected to lease the Baikonur site.(6) Under Kazakhstan, however, the facility’s conditions immediately declined. In 1993, world attention centered on the severe degradation of the technical and social facilities at Baikonur and the adjacent town of Leninsk. In December of that year, a U.S. Congressional delegation visited Baikonur to ascertain the extent of the problems and their potential impact on future U.S.-Russian cooperative space missions. In 1994 the situation stabilized again after a new Russian-Kazakhstan accord and direct intervention by the Russian government.(7)
Other problems have emerged in recent years, however, most of which concern Kazakhstan’s allegations that Russia has failed to pay rent for its use of the Baikonur Cosmodrome. In March 2004, Kazakhstan cut off the electricity to the facility in order to force Russia to settle these outstanding debts.(8) As one form of payment, Russia has exported a substantial amount of weapons and military equipment to Kazakhstan.(9) Nevertheless, frequent haggling over the terms of the Baikonur lease continues.(10)
Despite the problems between Russia and Kazakhstan, the Baikonur Cosmodrome remains a major Russian launch site. Seventeen missile and space vehicle launches were conducted there during 2004, and 20 to 23 are expected in 2005.(11) In 2005, the two nations signed a deal allowing for the lease of the Baikonur facility to Russia until 2050.(12)
Footnotes
- Nuclear Threat Initiative, “Kazakhstan: Missile Chronology,” available at http://www.nti.org/e_research/profiles/Kazakhstan/Missile/4487.html, accessed on 30 August 2005; RussianSpaceWeb.com, “Baikonur Cosmodrome (NIIP-5/GIK-5),” available at www.russianspaceweb.com/baikonur.html, accessed on August 30, 2005.
- GlobalSecurity.org, “Baikonur Cosmodrome,” available at http://www.globalsecurity.org/space/world/russia/baikonur.htm, accessed on 30 August 2005.
- RussianSpaceWeb.com, “Baikonur Cosmodrome (NIIP-5/GIK-5).”
- RussianSpaceWeb.com, “Baikonur Cosmodrome (NIIP-5/GIK-5).”
- Nuclear Threat Initiative, “Kazakhstan: Missile Chronology.”
- “No More Rent for Kazakhstan,” Foreign Report, 8 April 2004.
- GlobalSecurity.org, “Baikonur Cosmodrome.”
- “Kazakh Debt Collectors,” Foreign Report, 11 March 2004.
- Robert Lucca, “Russia-Kazakh Relations Remain Rocky Despite Strategic Alliance,” Jane’s Intelligence Review, 1 September 2000.
- “Russia’s Sphere of Influence,” Foreign Report, 22 March 2001.
- David C. Isby, “Russia Opens New ICBM Launch Site,” Jane’s Missiles and Rockets, 1 March 2005.
- “After Kyrgyzstan: Who Next? Revolution Is Spreading in the Commonwealth of Independent States,” Foreign Report, 14 April 2005.
Russia Test-Fires SS-19 Stiletto from Baikonur Cosmodrome
Russia today test-launched an SS-19 Stiletto (RS-18) intercontinental ballistic missile from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The missile reportedly carried a dummy warhead and hit its target at the Kura missile training range in Kamchatka, according to a spokesman from the Russian Space Forces. Russia has about 360 silo-based SS-19 missiles in operation, each with a range of 9,000 km and capable of carrying six warheads.
» More stories on: Russia, Testing - Foreign
» Missile details: SS-21 A
» Missile system details for: Baikonur Cosmodrome
Russian Dnepr Launcher Crashes in Kazakhstan
A Russian Dnepr carrier rocket carrying 18 mini-satellites crashed today in a remote area of Kazakhstan shortly after its lift-off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, reports RIA-Novosti. The Dnepr carrier rocket, a civilian version of the heavy SS-18 Satan (RS-20 Voyevoda) intercontinental ballistic missiles, experienced a second stage breakdown 86 seconds into its flight. Russia has been using converted ballistic missiles to launch satellites into orbit since 1999.
» More stories on: Space-Based Systems, Testing - Foreign
» Missile details: SS-20
» Missile system details for: Baikonur Cosmodrome
Russia to Leave Baikonur
Russia plans to withdraw its missile forces from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, the oldest space launch facility in the world. According to Col.-Gen. Vladimir Popovkin, commander of the Russian Space Troops, the forces will move to the Plesetsk Cosmodrome, located in northwestern Russia approximately 800 km northeast of St. Petersburg. Popovkin was quoted by RIA-Novosti as stating that maintaining Baikonur “has become a luxury that we cannot permit ourselves.” The planned withdrawal will take place in 2007-2008.
» More stories on: Former Soviet Republics, Russia
» Missile system details for: Baikonur Cosmodrome, Plesetsk Cosmodrome
Russia Tests SS-19 ICBM from Baikonur
On October 20, Russia launched another ICBM in its recent string of missile tests, this time an SS-19 (RS-18) “Stiletto” missile. The silo-based SS-19 was launched from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, and its warhead traveled eastward to hit its designated target at the Kura testing range on the Kamchatka peninsula some 25 minutes and 6,000km later, according to a statement by Russian Space Forces Col. Alexei Kuznetsov, who added, notes Itar Tass, that “the launch tested the missile’s tactical and technical characteristics, as well as its performance after being on standby for 25 years.” He also added that the missile “was launched from a silo at site No 175 of the southern spaceport.” This was the first test of an SS-19 in 2005, and it would have been the SS-19 Mod 2; the SS-19 mod 1 was replaced in 1983.
Itar Tass continues:
According to mass media reports, the Strategic Missile Troops are now equipped with 160 Stilet [sic] missiles, each carrying six warheads. The RS-18 missile is one of Russia’s most sophisticated intercontinental missiles. The launches performed in the past few years proved its reliability and made it possible to extend its service life by 20 years.
The RS-18 missiles that have been withdrawn from the combat component of the Strategic Missile Troops are currently being converted into Rokot launch vehicles at the Khrunichev state scientific and production space centre. There have been seven launches of Rokot launch vehicles since 2000, of which six were successful. The launch of this type of rocket with the European Cryosat research satellite on board on 8 October proved to be a failure.
» Longer Itar-Tass report on test, available through BBC Monitoring
» More stories on: Russia, Testing - Foreign
» Missile details: SS-21 B
» Missile system details for: Baikonur Cosmodrome
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