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Site No.1

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Gagarin's Start (Russian: Гагаринский старт) is a launch site at Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, used for the Soviet space program and now managed by the Russian Federal Space Agency.

The launchpad for the world's first human spaceflight made by Yuri Gagarin on Vostok 1 in 1961, the site was referred to as Site No.1 (Площадка №1) as the first one of its kind. It is also sometimes referred to as NIIP-5 LC1, Baikonur LC1 or GIK-5 LC1.

On March 17, 1954 the Council of Ministers of the USSR ordered several ministries to select a site for a proving ground to test the R-7 rocket by January 1, 1955. A special reconnaissance commission considered several possible geographic regions and selected Tyuratam in the Kazakh SSR. This selection was approved on February 12, 1955 by the Council of Ministers of the USSR, with a completion of construction targeted for 1958. Work on the construction of Site No.1 began on July 20, 1955 by military engineers. Day and night more than 60 powerful trucks worked at the site; 15,000 cubic meters (19,600 cubic yards) of earth were excavated and removed per day, with the total volume estimated to be 750,000 m³ (980,000 cu yd). During winter explosives were widely utilized. By the end of October 1956 all primary building and installation of infrastructure for R-7 tests was completed. The Installation and Testing Building (Монтажно-испытательный корпус) named "Site No.2" was built and a special railway completed from there to Site No.1 where the launch pad for the rocket was located. By April 1957 all remaining work was completed and the site was ready for launches.

First intended for the R-7 ballistic missile program, the first ICBM was launched from Site No.1 on August 21, 1957. On October 4, 1957 the pad was used to launch the world's first artificial satellite, Sputnik 1. Manned spaceflights launched from the site include Yuri Gagarin's flight, Valentina Tereshkova's flight, and numerous other human spaceflight missions, including all Soviet and Russian manned spaceflights to Mir. The pad was also used to launch Luna program spacecraft, Mars probe program spacecraft, Venera program spacecraft, many Cosmos satellites and others. From 1957 through 1966 the site hosted ready-to-launch strategic nuclear ICBMs in addition to spacecraft launches; by the 2000s there were more than 400 launches from the site.

Gallery

Soyuz TMA-16 launches from the Gagarin's Start on September 30, 2009, on its way to the International Space Station.

Sunrise at the launch pad prior to the rollout of Soyuz TMA-13, October 10, 2008.

See also

• Baikonur Cosmodrome Site 31

Notes

Coordinates: 45°55′13″N 63°20′32″E / 45.92028°N 63.34222°E / 45.92028; 63.34222