Baikonur

The Baikonur Cosmodrome is a spaceport operated by Russia within Kazakhstan. Located in the Kazakh city of Baikonur, it is the largest operational space launch facility in terms of area. All Russian crewed spaceflights are launched from Baikonur.

Situated in the Kazakh Steppe, some 90 metres (300 ft) above sea level, it is 200 kilometres (120 mi) to the east of the Aral Sea and north of the Syr Darya. It is close to Töretam, a station on the Trans-Aral Railway. Russia, as the official successor state to the Soviet Union, has retained control over the facility since 1991; it originally assumed this role through the post-Soviet Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), but ratified an agreement with Kazakhstan in 2005 that allowed it to lease the spaceport until 2050. It is jointly managed by Roscosmos and the Russian Aerospace Forces.

Kazakhstan is divided into 17 regions and 4 cities. The regions are further subdivided into districts. The four cities, Almaty, Baikonur, Shymkent, and the capital city Astana, do not belong to their surrounding regions.

Initially there were 14 regions. On 16 March 2022, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev announced that three new regions would be created. Abai Region was created from East Kazakhstan Region with its capital in Semey. Ulytau Region was created from Karaganda Region with its capital in Jezkazgan. Jetisu Region was created from Almaty Region with its capital in Taldykorgan; Almaty Region's capital was moved from Taldykorgan to Qonayev.

Qyzylorda Region (Kazakh: Қызылорда облысы / Qyzylorda oblysy, IPA: [qəˌzəɫorˈdɑ wobɫəˈsə]; Russian: Кызылординская область, romanized: Kyzylordinskaya oblast), formerly known as Kyzyl-Orda Region until 1991, is a region of Kazakhstan. Its capital is the city of Qyzylorda, with a population of 234,736. The region itself has a population of 823,251. Other notable settlements include Aral, Kazaly (Kazalinsk) and the Russian-administered Baikonur, which services the Baikonur Cosmodrome. The total area of the province is 226,000 square kilometers (87,000 sq mi).

Töretam (Kazakh: Төретам, romanized: Töretam; Russian: Тюратам, romanized: Tyuratam) is a station on the Trans-Aral Railway, located in Kazakhstan. The name means "Töre's grave" in the Kazakh language. Töre, or more formally, Töre-Baba, was a nobleman and descendant of Genghis Khan. Töretam is near the Baikonur Cosmodrome, a Russian – formerly Soviet – spaceport, and near the city of Baikonur (formerly Leninsk, Baiqongyr in Kazakh), which was constructed to service the cosmodrome.

Cluster II was a space mission of the European Space Agency, with NASA participation, to study the Earth's magnetosphere over the course of nearly two solar cycles. The mission was composed of four identical spacecraft flying in a tetrahedral formation. As a replacement for the original Cluster spacecraft which were lost in a launch failure in 1996, the four Cluster II spacecraft were successfully launched in pairs in July and August 2000 onboard two Soyuz-Fregat rockets from Baikonur, Kazakhstan. In February 2011, Cluster II celebrated 10 years of successful scientific operations in space. In February 2021, Cluster II celebrated 20 years of successful scientific operations in space. As of March 2023, its mission was extended until September 2024. The China National Space Administration/ESA Double Star mission operated alongside Cluster II from 2004 to 2007.

The first of the four Cluster II satellites to re-enter the atmosphere did so on 8 September 2024 and the second one on 22 October 2025. The remaining two are expected to follow in summer 2026. The scientific payload operations of all satellites ended as the first satellite re-entered the atmosphere (other flight operations are still being performed with the remaining flying satellites until the satellites have all re-entered).