Baikonur Cosmodrome marks 60th anniversary

Kazakhstan's Baikonur Space Center is celebrating its 60th anniversary today. June 2, 1955, the day on which the General Staff of the Soviet Armed Forces endorsed the formation of the test site, is considered to be the birthday of the space center.

On April 12, 1961, Yuri Gagarin, who went into orbit on the Vostok 1 spacecraft, inaugurated the era of manned flights.

But Baikonur has been the site of tragedies too: on October 24, 1960 a prototype R-16 exploded and killed 78 people.

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has congratulated the staff of the Baikonur Cosmodrome on the 60th anniversary of the Space Launch Complex. He noted that Baikonur is the world's largest spaceport, associated with the names of Korolev and Gagarin, Tereshkova and Leonov, with the launch of the Soyuz and Proton vehicles. It is a matter of special pride for Russia and Kazakhstan, a good platform for international cooperation.