Plesetsk Cosmodrome

Plesetsk Cosmodrome (State Test Cosmodrome No. 1), located near Mirny in the Arkhangelsk Oblast of Russia at approximately 63°N latitude — roughly 800 km north of Moscow — is Russia's primary military spaceport and the world's most frequently used orbital launch site by cumulative historical launch count, having supported over 1,600 launches since 1966.

Originally established in 1957 as an ICBM missile base for the R-7 intercontinental ballistic missile — the same rocket design that launched Sputnik — Plesetsk was converted to orbital launch operations in 1966 and remained classified as a military installation until 1983, never publicly acknowledged during the early space age. Its northern latitude provides natural access to high-inclination polar and sun-synchronous orbits used by Soviet and Russian military reconnaissance, electronic intelligence (ELINT), signals intelligence (SIGINT), and navigation satellites, as well as meteorological and scientific payloads requiring polar coverage.

Plesetsk supports multiple launch vehicle families: the Soyuz-2 series (Soyuz-2.1a, Soyuz-2.1b, Soyuz-2.1v light variant) for medium-class payloads including Glonass navigation satellites, Earth observation reconnaissance satellites, and commercial/scientific payloads; the Angara rocket family (Angara-1.2 small, Angara-A5 heavy), Russia's new-generation modular launch vehicle designed to replace Soviet-era Proton and Zenit vehicles with Russian-made engines free from Ukrainian components; and historically the Rokot small launcher (derived from the UR-100N ICBM) which conducted its final launch in 2019.

Angara is the centerpiece of Plesetsk's future — Russia's Defense Ministry has invested heavily in the Angara launch infrastructure at Plesetsk as the country's primary heavy-lift launch capability for military payloads, reducing dependence on Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan (leased from Kazakhstan). The Angara-A5 heavy lift vehicle, delivering up to 24.5 tons to LEO, conducted its first successful flight from Plesetsk in December 2014 and has had subsequent test flights through 2023.