Plesetsk Cosmodrome

Plesetsk Cosmodrome
Космодром «Плесецк»
Russia
Great emblem of the Plesetsk Cosmodrome
Plesetsk Cosmodrome Show map of Russia Plesetsk Cosmodrome Show map of Arkhangelsk Oblast
Coordinates	62°55′32″N 40°34′40″E / 62.92556°N 40.57778°E / 62.92556; 40.57778
Type	Spaceport
Site information
Owner	Russian ministry of defence
Controlled by	Russian Space Forces
Open to the public	No
Site history
Built	1957 (1957)
In use	1957-present

Plesetsk Cosmodrome (Russian: Космодром «Плесецк», romanized: Kosmodrom "Plesetsk", IPA: [kəsmɐˈdrom plʲɪˈsʲet͡sk]) is a Russian spaceport located in Mirny, Arkhangelsk Oblast, about 800 km north of Moscow and approximately 200 km south of Arkhangelsk. As of 2024, it is Europe's only operational orbital spaceport and the northernmost spaceport in the world. Originally developed as an ICBM site for the R-7 missile, it also served for numerous satellite launches using the R-7 and other rockets. Its high latitude makes it useful only for certain types of launches, especially the Molniya orbits, so for much of the site's history it functioned as a secondary location, with most orbital launches taking place from Baikonur, in the Kazakh SSR. With the end of the Soviet Union, Baikonur became a foreign territory, and Kazakhstan charged $115 million usage fees annually. Consequently, Plesetsk has seen considerably more activity since the 2000s.