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Russia’s New Spaceport: The Vostochny Cosmodrome (15 photos)

For the past five years, Russia has been building a new spaceport in its Far East, about 3,500 miles (5.500 km) away from Moscow, called the Vostochny Cosmodrome. Russia is seeking to reduce its dependence on the existing Baikonur Cosmodrome, located in Kazakhstan, for both civilian and military launches. The first successful launch took place late last week, on April 28, 2016. The building-out of Vostochny continues, as many support facilities and another six launch pads are planned.

A Russian Soyuz 2.1A rocket carrying Lomonosov, Aist-2D and SamSat-218 satellites lifts off from the launch pad at the new Vostochny cosmodrome outside the city of Uglegorsk, about 200 km from the city of Blagoveshchensk in the far eastern Amur region of Russia on April 28, 2016. (Kirill Kudryavtsev / Reuters)
http://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2016/05/russias-new-spaceport-the-vostochny-cosmodrome/480846/