Baikonur

History

∟ [[File:Flag of the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic (1953–1991); Flag of Kazakhstan (1991–1992).svg|25px]] Kazakh SSR

Kazakhstan 1991–present

∟ Russia Russian Federation (lease) 1991–2050

The original Baikonur (Kazakh for "wealthy brown", i.e. "fertile land with many herbs") is a mining town located about 320 km northeast of the present-day spaceport, near Dzhezkazgan in Kazakhstan's Karagandy Region. In the run-up to the Vostok 1 flight in April 1961, Soviet authorities deliberately applied the name "Baikonur" to the launch site to obscure its true location. Residents of the mining town briefly exploited the confusion to obtain scarce materials before officials discovered the misunderstanding.

The modern city of Baikonur was built several kilometres south of the existing railway settlement of Töretam, which predates the cosmodrome. Töretam, located on the Trans-Aral Railway, served as the original railhead in the region and gave the early test range its first widely used name, "Tyuratam".

The fortunes of the new city have risen and fallen with the Soviet and later Russian space programme and the operations of the Baikonur Cosmodrome. Due to its military and scientific significance, the settlement was a closed city during the Soviet period and did not appear on publicly available maps before perestroika.

The Soviet government formally established the Scientific-Research Test Range No. 5 (; NIIIP-5), or by decree on 12 February 1955. The U-2 reconnaissance aircraft first identified and photographed the Tyuratam missile test range (the present-day Baikonur Cosmodrome) on 5 August 1957.

Most local landmarks reflect the city’s close ties to the space programme, with only a few exceptions such as the preserved locomotive, an Orthodox church, and a mosque.

Administratively, the city belongs to the Odintsovsky District of Moscow Oblast in accordance with internal Russian arrangements, but it remains an administrative unit of Kazakhstan. Under the bilateral agreement between Russia and Kazakhstan, Baikonur is granted an unofficial status equivalent to a Russian city of federal significance for the duration of the lease of the Baikonur complex (currently through 2050).

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 .

Climate

Baikonur features a cold desert climate (BWk). Summers are hot with July highs averaging slightly over 34 C, while winters are cold, with longer periods of sustained below-freezing temperatures.

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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

Notes

References

References

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3. "Kazakhstan: Russia to keep using Baikonur until at least 2050 | Eurasianet".
4. (2013). "The Soyuz launch vehicle the two lives of an engineering triumph". Springer.
5. Siddiqi, Asif A.. "Challenge To Apollo: The Soviet Union and the Space Race, 1945–1974". [[NASA]].
6. "Baikonur Cosmodrome – Tyuratam Missile Range. History".
7. (2008-02-13). "The U-2 Program: A Russian Officer Remembers — Central Intelligence Agency".
8. "Baikonur".
9. "Знаете что связывает космодром Байконур и Одинцовский район?".
10. Obukhov, Aleksei. (20 December 2016). "Самым безопасным городом Подмосковья оказался Байконур в Казахстане".
11. "Международное соглашение между Российской Федерацией и Республикой Казахстан о статусе города Байконур...".