Kapustin Yar (Astrakhan region): the history of the landfill

2024 Author: Harold Hamphrey | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:06

Kapustin Yar (Astrakhan region) is the Russian central interspecific missile military range. It is one of the oldest sites of importance. The history of the Russian strategic missile shield began precisely from the Kapustin Yar area. At the same time, this area is still a research, testing center and spaceport.

History of the landfill

The Kapustin Yar test site (Astrakhan region) began to be created after the Second World War, when Soviet scientists gained access to German technologies. Despite the fact that the USSR got only the remnants of technical documentation, this was enough to start reproducing V-1 and 2 rockets.

In May 1946, the leadership of the USSR decided to create a specialized testing ground. As a result, the district of the village of Kapustin Yar was chosen for these purposes. The first head of the test site was V. I. Vozniuk, lieutenant general of artillery. He ran the facility for 27 years. The landfill was named after the villageKapustin Yar.

Object secrecy

When the military landed on its shores with the first cargo, no one guessed about the creation of the Soviet cosmodrome. Information about the goals and objectives of the site was classified, and even the local authorities received an order from the leadership only to provide all possible assistance to the arriving military in their arrangement.

The seriousness of the object became clear when the boundaries of the village were changed and 200 families were relocated to other areas. People received good compensation for those times. The resettlement ended in 1949. Many of the remaining residents got jobs in the calculation groups, KECh and the service sector. Some went on long service.

Polygon expansion

Initially, the test facility Kapustin Yar (Astrakhan region) had only a concrete stand. Built in 1947:

• bunker;
• launch pad;
• temporary tech station;
• bridge;
• cutting station;
• rocket fuel depot.

A little later, a highway and a railway appeared, connecting the object with Stalingrad (now Volgograd). Life on the range was very hard. People lived in dugouts and tents that stood in the bare steppe. The management of the landfill huddled in the carriage of the special train. The first normal residential buildings began to be built only in 1948

First trials

In the autumn of 1947, the first tests were carried out at the Kapustin Yar training ground (Astrakhan region). The first ballistic missile of the USSR was launched. The tests were successful, the projectile hit the right square. The rocket and space Soviet era was opened on 1948-10-10. In a short time, a new weapon appeared for the USSR Armed Forces. For 10 years, the village of Kapustin Yar (Astrakhan region) was the only place for testing ballistic missiles.

At the same time, the landfill began to be used to launch geophysical and meteorological projectiles. In 1951, the first series of rockets was launched from the cosmodrome with dogs on board. Since 1956, tests of nuclear missile weapons began. At the same time, the landfill developed more and more. New technical and launch complexes were built, the volume of research work increased, etc.

Spaceport

In the early 60s. the object Kapustin Yar (Astrakhan region) was prepared for the start of space exploration. The polygon received the status of a cosmodrome in March 1962. Then the first Soviet satellite was launched into the Earth's orbit. In 1969, the cosmodrome received international status. Indian satellites were sent into space from the test site. Over time, the launches began to decrease until they stopped altogether.

In 1987, all tests were stopped at the test site, and the country's leadership mothballed the facility for 10 years. Its revival began only in 1998. Testing, launching rockets and research facilities began again. In 2007, a cruise missile was tested, and in 2011, the Iskander-M OTRK.

In 2015, the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation announced the imminenttests at the test site of robotic systems. Preparatory work and modernization of the transmission system began. It is planned to test combat robotic systems, which should be responsible for beacons, signaling facilities, etc.

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