Baikonur Cosmodrome

Photo

by Bill Ingalls

/ Public domain

Baikonur Cosmodrome is a significant spaceport located in Baikonur, Kazakhstan. It is the world's first and largest operational space launch facility, initially established by the Soviet Union in the 1950s. The cosmodrome has been the launch site for numerous historic missions, including the launch of Yuri Gagarin, the first human in space, aboard Vostok 1 in 1961. Today, it continues to serve as a key hub for space exploration, used by Russia and other international space agencies for launching satellites, crewed missions to the International Space Station, and various other space endeavors.