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| Kapustin Yar | |
|---|---|
Капустин Яр | |
| Russian Federation | |
 | |
  Kapustin Yar  Kapustin Yar | |
| Coordinates | 48°35′N45°43′E / 48.59°N 45.72°E /48.59; 45.72 |
| Site information | |
| Owner | Russian Federation |
| Controlled by | Russian Aerospace Forces |
| Open to the public | No |
| Site history | |
| Built | 1946 (1946) |
| Built by | Soviet Union |
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Kapustin Yar (Russian:Капустин Яр) is a Russianmilitary training area and a rocket launch complex inAstrakhan Oblast, about 100 km east ofVolgograd. It was established by theSoviet Union on 13 May 1946. In the beginning, Kapustin Yar used technology, material, and scientific support gained from the defeat ofGermany inWorld War II. Numerous launches of test rockets for the Russian military were carried out at the site, as well assatellite andsounding rocket launches. The towns ofZnamensk andKapustin Yar (air base) were built nearby to serve the missile test range.
The nearby village, Kapustin Yar, was used as the operations base in the early days of the testing site. The name can be translated as "cabbage ravine".
In public opinion, Kapustin Yar has been compared to as the "RussianRoswell";[1] the place where theUSSR discovered, investigated or captured alien ships (UFOs). Due to its role as a development site for new technology, Kapustin Yar is also the site of numerous Soviet-era UFO sightings.[2] This legend has spawned various television programs and Internet speculation and theories, such as speculation on the structure of an underground complex beneath the site.[3]
The 4th Missile Test Range "Kapustin Yar" was established by a decree of theSoviet government in "On Questions of Jet Propelled Weapons" on 13 May 1946. The test range was created in the desert north end of the Astrakhan region under the supervision oflieutenant generalVasily Ivanovich Voznyuk, who served as commander of the range from 1946 until 1973.[4] The first rocket was launched from the site on 18 October 1947; it was one of eleven GermanA-4s that had been captured.
As of 1959, Kapustin Yar was the only publicly known Soviet missile test range. Non-Soviet observers believed at first thatSputnik 1 andSputnik 2 launched from the site.[5] With the further growth and development, Kapustin Yar became acosmodrome, serving this function since 1966. The rate of space launches was very low, usually 1–2 a year, and during the Soviet era it hosted only the two smallest launch vehicles: the R-12 and R-14 derived Kosmos boosters. There were no space launches from 1988 to 1998. The town of Znamensk was established to support the scientists working on the facilities, their families, and supporting personnel. Initially, this was asecret city, not shown on maps and requiring official permission to visit.
On 3 June 1947, by the Resolution of the Council of Ministers of the USSR and the Central Committee of the CPSU (b) No. 2642–817[excessive detail?], Kapustin Yar was designated as the location of the new rocket test site. Voznyuk was appointed head of the training ground.[6] The first officers arrived at the future training ground on 20 August 1947.[citation needed] In September 1947, a special brigade of the Reserve of the Supreme Main Command, Major General of Artillery, arrived from Germany withA. F. Tveretsky (the 22nd BON RVGK since 1950)[clarification needed], plus two special trains with equipment taken from Germany.
By the beginning of October 1947, in addition to the concrete test stand andbunker at the first site, a launch site with a bunker, a temporary technical position, and an installation building were built. Additionally, a highway and a 20-kilometer railway line connecting the site with the main highway toStalingrad (Volgograd) were built. Site housing was not constructed until 1948. Until then, builders and testers lived intents,dugouts, temporary buildings, and peasantizba in the village of Kapustin Yar.
By 1 October 1947, Voznyuk reported the site was ready for launching rockets. On 14 October 1947, the first batch ofV-2 rockets arrived at the test site. On 18 October 1947 at 10:47 Moscow time, the first launch ofballistic missile in the USSR was made. From 18 October to 13 November 1947, eleven V-2 rockets were launched; seven achieved the targeted range (two with a large deviation from the set trajectory) and four failed.[7]
From 1947 to 1957, Kapustin Yar was the only place to test Soviet ballistic missiles, including theR-1 (September–October 1948, September–October 1949),R-2 (September–October 1949),R-5 Pobeda (March 1953),R-12 Dvina, andR-14 Chusovaya, among others. During 1957–1959, the intercontinentalcruise missile "Burya" started at the Kapustin Yar proving ground. On 2 September 1959, theR-12 became the first missile launched from amissile silo.
In June 1951, the State R&D Test Range No 8 (GNIIP-8, "test range S") was established at Kapustin Yar.
Western intelligence services learned about the existence of the test site from German scientists returning to their homeland.[8] For additional intelligence gathering, in August 1953, a specially-trainedRoyal Air Force reconnaissanceCanberra (Canberra PR3, tail number WH726) was equipped with a uniqueRobin camera.[9][10][note 1] The aircraft was launched fromGiebelstadt Air Base and flew over theVolga at an altitude of more than 20 km, then approached Kapustin Yar. The MiGs raised in alarm could only slightly damage the aircraft. After taking a photo of the site, the Canberra crossed theCaspian Sea and landed inTabriz, Iran. As a result of the flight, photographs of secret objects at the site were obtained.[note 2] The success of the operation gave impetus to the development of satellite and aerial photography programs to obtain pictures of military facilities in the USSR and other socialist countries.
According to open data, since the 1950s, at least 11nuclear explosions have been conducted at the Kapustin Yar test site[11] (between altitudes of 300 m and 5.5 km), the total capacity of which is approximately 65 times the atomic bombs dropped onHiroshima. From 1957 to 1961, five low-yield (10–40 kilotons) atmosphericnuclear tests were performed over the site.[12] In addition to nuclear tests, 24,000 guided missiles were exploded in Kapustin Yar, 177 samples of military equipment were tested, and 619RSD-10 Pioneer missiles were destroyed.
On 20 May 1960, the Training Center of the Rocket Forces of the Ground Forces was established on the territory of the State Landfill. The Center was tasked with creating combat coherence of missile troops, training and retraining rocket specialists, and creating regulatory documents for all-round missile combat activities troops of the Ground Forces.
On 16 March 1962, Kapustin Yar became acosmodrome with the launch of theKosmos 1 satellite. Subsequently, small research satellites were launched from Kapustin Yar on lightKosmos rockets.
In subsequent years, many short- and medium-range missiles, cruise missiles, complexes, and air defense missiles were tested at the test site.
On 8 January 1992, during a trip toSaratov Oblast, PresidentBoris Yeltsin made a statement on the issue of the restoration of theVolga German Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, proposing thatSoviet Germans move to Kapustin Yar instead of their legitimate territory: "...and let this land, which is filled with shells, may they cultivate it... There may be some such region in some future and there will be, or there may be some such nationalVolga region Germans,but only when there will be 90 percent of Germans".[citation needed]
In 1994, the 4 GPCRussian Ministry of Defence entered the test siteAir Defense Forces. In October 1998, the 4th State Central Polygon was transformed into the 4th State Central Interspecific Polygon. In 1998, the "Sary-Shagan" test site (located in south-eastern Kazakhstan and rented by Russia) was removed from theAir Defense troops and reassigned to the 4th State Central Interspecific polygon.[13][incomprehensible]
In 1999, Russian troops were redeployed to the Kapustin Yar test site from the 11th State Research Test Site of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian FederationEmba (ru), due to the dismantling of the latter.[14]
In 2008, Russia carried out 27 launches, surpassing its figure for 2007 and setting the highest number worldwide. Most (19 / 27) launches were performed from theBaikonur cosmodrome; six from thePlesetsk space launch center inArkhangelsk Oblast; one from theDombarovsky Air Base inOrenburg Oblast; and one from the Kapustin Yar test site.[15]
On 9 July 2024, Ukrainian drones struck the missile testing facility at Kapustin Yar. Footage showed a building being struck and exploding. Russian officials claimed all 20 drones were shot down, while one black painted UkrainianBober drone crashed landed in a field. Subsequent satellite images showed scorch marks at the facility.[16][17]
| Name | Coordinates | Comment | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Burya Launch Complex | Kapustin Yar Burya | 48°28′N46°19′E / 48.47°N 46.32°E /48.47; 46.32 | Elaborate complex: horizontal assembly building, huge circular rail line, and mobile erector and launcher; built at the Soviet Vladimirovka flight test facility, south of Kapustin Yar |
| Area 84 | Kapustin Yar LC84 | 48°37′N46°18′E / 48.62°N 46.30°E /48.62; 46.30 | 3 launch pads: R-5, RT-15, R-5 |
| Area 86 | Kapustin Yar LC86 | 48°36′N46°18′E / 48.60°N 46.30°E /48.60; 46.30 | 4 launch pads: Kosmos 11K63, Kosmos 63S1, Kosmos 63S1M, R-31 |
| Area 107 | Kapustin Yar LC107 | 48°32′N46°18′E / 48.54°N 46.30°E /48.54; 46.30 | 3 launch pads: Kosmos 11K65M, Kosmos 65MP, R-14 |
| Area 107 | Kapustin Yar LC107 | 48°32′N46°18′E / 48.54°N 46.30°E /48.54; 46.30 | 1 launch garage: mobile ICBM Topol/Topol-E |
| Mayak-1 silo | Kapustin Yar Mayak-1 | 48°36′N46°18′E / 48.60°N 46.30°E /48.60; 46.30 | 1 launch pad: R-12 |
| Mayak-2 silo | Kapustin Yar Mayak-2 | 48°34′N46°18′E / 48.57°N 46.30°E /48.57; 46.30 | 2 launch pads: Kosmos 63S1, R-12 |
| Pioner Launch Complex | Kapustin Yar Pioner | 48°37′N46°15′E / 48.62°N 46.25°E /48.62; 46.25 | Rail-served launch complex |
| Area 1 | Kapustin Yar PL1 | 48°24′N46°12′E / 48.40°N 46.20°E /48.40; 46.20 | 1 launch pad: R-12 |
| Area 87 | Kapustin Yar PL87 | 48°34′N46°18′E / 48.56°N 46.30°E /48.56; 46.30 | 1 launch pad: RT-2 |
| R-1 Launch Area | Kapustin Yar R-1 | 48°48′N45°40′E / 48.80°N 45.67°E /48.80; 45.67 | |
| R-11 Launch Area | Kapustin Yar R-11 | 48°42′N46°12′E / 48.70°N 46.20°E /48.70; 46.20 | Naval missile test area |
| R-14 Silo Prototype | Kapustin Yar R-14 | 48°32′N46°18′E / 48.53°N 46.30°E /48.53; 46.30 | |
| R-2 Launch Area | Kapustin Yar R-2 | 48°47′N45°42′E / 48.78°N 45.70°E /48.78; 45.70 | |
| R-5 Initial Launch Area | Kapustin Yar R-5 | 48°45′N45°45′E / 48.75°N 45.75°E /48.75; 45.75 | |
| SM-49 submarine simulator | Kapustin Yar SM-49 | 48°40′N46°16′E / 48.67°N 46.27°E /48.67; 46.27 | 1 launch pad: R-11FM |
| Sounding rocket launch area | Kapustin Yar Sounding | 48°42′N46°12′E / 48.70°N 46.20°E /48.70; 46.20 | Site used to launch sounding rockets |
| V-2 Launch Area | Kapustin Yar V-2 | 48°33′N45°49′E / 48.55°N 45.82°E /48.55; 45.82 | Original site for V-2 launches in 1946; first complex at Kapustin Yar |
| Vertikal Launch Pad | Kapustin Yar Vertikal | 48°30′N46°47′E / 48.50°N 46.78°E /48.50; 46.78 | 1 launch pad; Site for R-5 scientific launches, located east of the primary military launch areas |
Kapustin Yar is mentioned in the story "Cradle in Orbit" byArthur C. Clarke.
Kapustin Yar is mentioned inAlexander Gromov's novelStep to the Left, step to the Right. (M., AST, 1999.)
One of the key missions of the 2003 computer gameUFO: Aftermath is the task of finding documents in an underground base located at the Kapustin Yar test site.
