If everything is more or less clear with Baikonur, the question of where the Plesetsk Cosmodrome is located will puzzle many. And all because not much is said about him. It is worth filling in the missing information.
When did it all start?
In the winter of 1957. It was then that in January it was decided to create a military facility. It was supposed to be the first compound of intercontinental ballistic missiles. The same year was marked by the beginning of the construction of the first launch complex. Today, the launch site has six launch sites, some of which are under reconstruction.
How did you choose its location?
Now you can just be interested in where Plesetsk, the famous cosmodrome, is located, and then you had to find the right place for it.
At that time, many factors had to be taken into account. They have not lost their importance in the modern world. The place where the Plesetsk Cosmodrome is located satisfies the following conditions:
- the proximity of the railway station;
- the ability to hit a potential enemy;
- observance of special secrecy;
- has the ability to conduct test launches in the Kamchatka Peninsula;
- remote from large settlements and located in sparsely populated areas.
All these requirements correspond to the territory at some distance from Arkhangelsk. It is there that the place where the Plesetsk Cosmodrome is located is located.
And what are its coordinates?
Not always enough information that it is removed from Arkhangelsk at a distance of about 180 km to the south. It happens that you need to know exactly where the Plesetsk Cosmodrome is located. The coordinates will then be very helpful.
Although it’s very difficult to talk about accurate geographic data for a locality, since it is very stretched over a vast territory. But still. Most sources provide the following information:
- East longitude - 40.68º or 40 ° 41 ';
- north latitude - 62.96 or 62 ° 57 '.
Bit of his story
The first launcher was completed two years after the start of construction. And a year later (in 1960), the first missile began to be on alert.
After three more years, it was decided to use the available launch complexes to launch satellites. And in 1966, the first of them was launched into orbit from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome. After this event, the spaceport began to be actively used. And the next two decades were characterized by the fact that every fourth world space launch was carried out precisely from this place.
Until the beginning of 1999, more than 1, 500 launch vehicles were launched.
Moreover, of this number, only 49 were accompanied by emergency situations.
The plans for the use of the spaceport include a clause on the implementation of manned flights.
Information about the cosmodrome and its surroundings
“1st State Testing” - this is the official name of the Plesetsk Cosmodrome. Brief information about him is as follows:
- the name was given to the Plesetskaya station, owned by the Northern Railway;
- the terrain is characterized as a plateau hilly plain;
- the territory is located in a sharply continental climate, which is characterized by extreme instability and is very cold;
- the spaceport covers an area of 1762 km 2;
- its length along the parallel is about 46 km, along the meridian - 82 km;
- The administrative center of the cosmodrome is located in Mirny;
- its population varies from 30 to 50 thousand people, this value depends on what task Plesetsk performs;
- The status of the city is ZATO, which stands for "closed administrative-territorial entity."
