Baikonur Cosmodrome

The Baikonur Cosmodrome (Kazakh: Байқоңыр ғарыш айлағы, Bayqoñır ğarış aylağı; Russian: Космодром Байконур, Kosmodrom Baykonur), also called Tyuratam, is the world's oldest and largest operational space launch facility. It is located in Kazakhstan, about 200 kilometers (~125 mi) east of the  Aral Sea, on the north bank of the Syr Darya, near the town of Tyuratam. It is leased by the Kazakh government to Russia (until 2050) and managed by the Russian Federal Space Agency. It was originally built by the Soviet Union as the base of operations for its ambitious space program from the late 1950s to the 1980s. One of the launch pads, known as Gagarin's Start, is located at and is the launch pad from which Vostok 1 was launched.
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