Gagarin's Start

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 1... more

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... less