The Vostochny cosmodrome is the first civilian spaceport in Russia, designed to prepare and launch spacecraft for scientific, socio-economic and commercial purposes.
It ensures Russia's independent access to space. Before its construction, there was only the Plesetsk military space center. Civilian launches had to be carried out from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, which Moscow leases from Astana.
The construction of the Vostochny space center near the city of Tsiolkovsky in Russia's Far Eastern Amur Region began in 2012, in accordance with a presidential decree from November 6, 2007 and an order of the Russian government from January 14, 2009.
Russian Soyuz-2.1a Rocket With Satellites Blasts Off From Vostochny Cosmodrome
The cosmodrome is located between the rivers Zeya and Bolshaya Pera, 8,000 kilometers (4,970 miles) from Moscow and 180 kilometers from the city of Blagoveshchensk. Its area is about 700 square kilometers (270 square miles).
The cosmodrome is situated in the safest region of Russia in terms separations and falls of the rocket's lower stages. All the separated parts are returned to Earth to hard-to-reach and sparsely populated areas and then are disposed.
Vostochny is close to major transportation networks such as the Baikal-Amur Mainline and the Chita-Khabarovsk Highway. There is also a large supply of electricity production resources in the region.
The three stages have been defined to put the objects…
