Cosmodrome de Baïkonour

The Cosmodrome de Baïkonour (in Russian: КосмодромБайконур, Kazakh БайқоңырКосмодромы in meaning “the rich person or the beautiful steppe”, “the place where the wormwood pushes”, “the brown richness”, etc) is an international space center in which take part the Russia jointly, the Ukraine and the Kazakhstan and, increasingly various European and Asian programs. It is located at the center of the Kazakhstan, but at 370 km of the city of the same name - a reminiscence of the against-espionage of the time of the Cold war. It is located at a latitude of 45,6° NR. and a longitude of 63,3° E. (), at 200 km in the east of the Mer of Aral and on Right Bank (north-eastern) of the Syr-Daria, and close to the town of Tioura-Tam which is one of the stations of the railway line Moscow - Tachkent.

The cosmodrome was built by the Soviet Union and inaugurated the February 2nd 1955. In the beginning, it was conceived as a base of intercontinental tests for Missile S Balistique S. The first launching dated May 15th, 1957 with the shooting of the first intercontinental missile, R7, identical to the launcher of the first satellite, five months later. It is from there that were launched the rockets taking along Sputnik 1 and Sputnik 2, then Youri Gagarine in space.

Although Baïkonour shared the main part of Soviet space launchings with the Cosmodrome de Plesetsk, these two bases were more complementary than concurrent: whereas Plesetsk is ideal for launchings on very tilted orbits because of its high latitudes (northern latitude 62°8, near to the Arctic Circle), Baïkonour being closer to the equator can easily reach the Geostationary orbit, or other not very tilted orbits like in particular that used to reach the International space station. Moreover, the launching pads of Baïkonour enable him to send a more important payload.

In the facts, the base of Baïkonour is mainly used for Russian or international civil launchings, its position in full Kazakh territory hardly supporting its employment with fine soldiers.

A new city was built near the cosmodrome. It was renamed Baïkonour only in the Années 1990. In fact, the true town of Baïkonour is a mining city located at several hundred kilometers of the cosmodrome. This one had been baptized of Baïkonour during the Cold war only in one enough vain effort to hide its exact localization with the foreign powers. Today, nearly 80.000 people live in the neighborhoods of Baïkonour, all the economy of the area being strongly related to the space activities.

Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Federation of Russia, which does not have basic launching on its territory ready to send important loads on geostationary orbit, rents the cosmodrome of Baïkonour to the Kazakh authorities. Indeed in 1994, the two countries get along for the hiring of a space of more than 6.700 km ² around the base. Thus, all launchings of live missions and satellite geostationary Russian are done since Cosmodrome de Baïkonour.

It should be noted however that in 1997, the president Boris Ieltsine inaugurates the Cosmodrome de Svobodny in full Russian Siberia, on the basis of military installation old, and whose latitude (51°42) authorizes launchings towards the geostationary orbit. However for lack of financings, Russia will not manage to build steps of shooting allowing the sending of important loads, it thus remains tributary of Kazakhstan.

In 1999, two Russian rockets Proton are crushed in Kazakh territory. These serious accidents lead Kazakhstan to re-examine its “leasing agreement” of Baïkonour, and then requires an additional levy on the sales launches. Russian side, this new requirement results in to increase the will to become independent of Kazakhstan. Russia then announces its intention to delocalize the near total of the activities of launching of Baïkonour towards Plesetsk. In at the beginning of 2002 Alexandre Kosovan, then Minister for Defense, confirmed this engagement for the horizon 2005. But in the facts, only some remaining military space activities were really transferred to Plesetsk.

Moreover, the Russian governmental authorities do not have any more the monopoly of the decisions vis-a-vis the Russian industrialists like foreigners. That it is about the Starsem Frenchwoman who markets Soyuz, or the Russo-American firm International Launch Services which has the launcher Proton 3, the financial manna provided by the private sector largely contributes to maintain the cosmodrome of operational Baïkonour. The joint-venture Sea Launch plans as for it to open a terrestrial service of launching baptized “Land-Launch” starting from Baïkonour.

Proof that Russia was finally well made with the idea use Baïkonour durably, it signed on January 9th, 2004 a new agreement with Kazakhstan fixing the statute of Baïkonour, prolonging the hiring of the site until 2050 and increasing considerably the role of Kazakhstan in the management of the site: the Kazakh ones in particular insisted on the need for developing more respectful launchers of the environment. Astana will collaborate with Moscow for the development of the future launcher “Baïterek” which will be one rocket Angara modified, reusable (thus preventing the repercussion of the booster rockets on the country) and using a fuel less pollutant. In addition, Kazakhstan posts from now on space ambitions, far-sighted to obtain its own telecommunications satellites.

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