The Baikonur Cosmodrome is a large complex of rocket launch pads and supporting facilities, and the first and largest space centre in the world. It was built in Soviet times and lies in today’s Kazakhstan, in the desert steppe about 200 km east of the Aral Sea and north of the Syr Darya. It covers a vast area of 6,717 square km.
After the breakup of the Soviet Union, Russia took over much of the Soviet space programme, but the Baikonur launch site was on the territory of newly independent Kazakhstan. The solution, agreed in 1994, was that Russia would rent the entire Baikonur facility from Kazakhstan, including the town of the same name that serves the cosmodrome. In 2005 Russia and Kazakhstan extended the agreement until 2050, with a rent of 115 million US dollars a year. Russia has since built the Vostochny Cosmodrome in its Far East, which saw its first launch in 2016, and part of the launches moved there from Baikonur.
Baikonur at a glance
- Where: in the desert steppe of Kyzylorda region in Kazakhstan, north of the Syr Darya and about 200 km east of the Aral Sea. Russia leases the cosmodrome and the town until 2050.
- Permit: foreigners need a permit, arranged through an accredited agency at least 10 days ahead. Independent visits are not possible.
- Launch-viewing tours: combine a rocket launch with the cosmodrome museum and the town of Baikonur.
- Gateway: Kyzylorda, with flights from Almaty and Astana.
- Combine with: the North Aral around Aralsk and the Barsakelmes reserve.
How to visit Baikonur
Baikonur is a closed area. Foreigners can visit only with a permit, arranged through an accredited agency. Since 9 June 2026 the application has to be made at least 10 days before the visit. Independent visits are not possible: you cannot simply turn up at the checkpoint.
Most visitors come on a launch-viewing tour, which combines a rocket launch with the cosmodrome museum and the town of Baikonur. You can combine Baikonur with Kyzylorda, the Aral Sea and the Barsakelmes reserve.
Baikonur birth & current features
The Baikonur Cosmodrome was established in 1957, when the first development works were completed and the first R-7 rocket was launched. Over the following 30 years new launch pads for new rocket types, workshops for rocket construction, fuel stations, control and tracking complexes and other important infrastructure were built.
Today there are several launch pads, a huge airfield called Yubileyny, a museum of cosmonautics, assembly and test facilities and control centres. The most famous launch pad was No. 1, called Gagarin’s Start. The first rocket, the first man-made Earth satellite and the first manned flight, with Yuri Gagarin, were launched there, hence the name. It sent more than 600 rockets into space before it was retired in 2019. Launch pad No. 31 has taken over its role. Like Gagarin’s Start, launch pad 31 has a safety zone of 1.4 km.
Baikonur city
Baikonur is not only a cosmodrome but also a city built in the Kazakh steppe with the population of more than seventy thousand but many of them have nothing to do with space or rockets. While rockets are being launched nearby, the town of Baikonur resembles footage from a post-apocalyptic movie. It seems that time stopped here somewhere in the 60s when Gagarin flew into space and the town was then left there, surrounded by a concrete fence. As the territory of the entire Baikonur complex and the city, are both leased by Russia, the head of its administration is appointed by a joint declared by the presidents of the Russian Federation and Kazakhstan.
The town has two police, two registry offices, two courts and brothers living in the same apartment might be citizens of different states. Prices in the town are dominantly in rubles and though it is allowed to pay in Kazakh tenge, expect to get the change in rubles. The Russian MTS mobile-phone network is dominant in the town and the vehicle registration plates are mostly Russian as well.
The Baikonur town is considered to be an administrative unit of the Russian Federation with a special status, which only three other cities, Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Sevastopol also have. It is also not surprising that the stone Vladimir Lenin still stands in the central square, whose monuments you will meet traveling across Central Asia. The rent will expire in 2050, and what will happen with the complex is unknown.
Travel to Baikonur
You can enter Baikonur only through the checkpoints, with a permit. Foreigners get the permit through an accredited travel agency (see How to visit Baikonur). What Baikonur offers, at a significant price, is one of the few chances to watch a rocket launch into space from relatively close.
The town also has many places of interest for space enthusiasts, such as the houses where Yuri Gagarin stayed and the museum of the cosmodrome’s history. There are other interesting sights, like the Soviet Buran shuttle, but they are not officially open to the public.
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Sights & Destinations near Baikonur
Written by Anssi Karppinen, Central Asia Guide · Page updated