The new spaceport, located in the Amur region in southeastern Russia, was named Vostochny. It is from here that all the main launches of Russian missiles will take place. Using cameras, we can watch live pilot flights to the MKS (International Space Station, note. transl.). Launches to the Moon are also planned from this location, where a Russian lunar base should be built.

The opportunity to watch online launches is provided by the federal company PRICES (Center for the Exploitation of Terrestrial Space Infrastructure - Center for the Operation of Terrestrial Space Infrastructure). The transfer starts approximately forty minutes before the start. The first and at the same time successful launch from Vostočný took place on April 28, 2016, and three satellites were launched into orbit. The next two starts should take place in 2017.

By the way, it is from the Vostočny spaceport that large-scale live broadcasts with the use of many cameras are planned in the future. There was a requirement to mount them even on the individual stages of the missiles, so that Internet users could monitor the start and flight in the smallest detail.

Today, this spaceport is not only a new launch complex, but also a huge construction site. In the course of a few years, another complex is to be built here, designed for Angara heavy launchers, and after 2020, the launch of the newest ship should take place from here.

In the future, Vostočnyj should completely replace the important Baikonur (after 2050, the Kazakh lease agreement ends).

What is the benefit of the new launch complex? And what deficiencies?

In terms of latitude, it is slightly further north than Baikonur (more than five degrees), which means that although all other conditions are the same, the mass of the cargo that will be heading into orbit from here will be slightly less than from Kazakhstan. . But due to the fact that it is exclusively Russian territory (launch zones and separation of missile stages), Russia does not have to accept various conditions and restrictions from a foreign, albeit friendly, state. And, of course, you don't have to pay a huge rent for using the facilities and the territory of Baikonur. In this respect, Vostočnyj is a real win in the future.

The downside is that all the infrastructure needs to be rebuilt here. But even that is a plus. Everything will be built with regard to current requirements and using the latest technologies. In fact, the new city will also be furnished. All this together will not only be a launch pad into space, but also an important step in the development of the Russian Far East.

And where else could a new spaceport be built? Where were the special state commissions considering?

An explanation must be given first. For military and civilian purposes, it is necessary to ensure a wide range of inclinations of the orbits of space apparatus. The starting point corresponds to the latitude of the spaceport, and the further south it is, the more efficient the launches into space are. But a "northern" trajectory is also needed. For example, from Vostočný, launches will take place even with a ninety-eight degree incline and rockets will fly over Aldan in Yakutia.

If we are based on these and other factors, then this is how the selection of the historic site of the new spaceport took place. In the south of Russia, it could be Kapustin Jar, a well-known military-space polygon. But after the launch, the missiles would fly either over large industrial centers, which is very dangerous, or over the territory of Kazakhstan, which would have to be paid huge sums of money from the Russian wallet for the use of sovereign territory.

In terms of geography, the south of Siberia (Altai - Zabajkalí) was very interesting for the location of the launch complex. But in the initial phase of the exclusion process, it turned out that there is a very mountainous landscape with hard-to-reach places. It could take a very long time to get to some areas in the event of a shipwreck accident.

By the way, just above the snow-capped Altai, Russian cosmonauts were extremely catapulted in 1975 due to the crash of a launch vehicle at a height of one hundred and ninety-two kilometers. After reaching the ground, the descending capsule began to roll on the mountain slope, and there was little to fall into the abyss. Fortunately, the parachute caught on a tree. Despite great difficulties, the rescuers did not reach the cosmonauts Vasily Lazarev and Oleg Makarov until the following day.

But the main negative moment in the choice of the Siberian spaceport was that the trajectory of the missiles passed through Mongolia and China with a minimal orbit.

From the remaining areas that seemed to be suitable candidates, they focused on the continental Far East and the island of Sakhalin. It turned out that the most efficient starting point ramps are the areas around the cities of Vladivostok and Ussuriysk. What's more, they even lied south than Baikonur. But the major obstacle to the launch of missiles here was the proximity of Chinese, Korean and Japanese territories.

The construction of a spaceport in these parts of the Coastal Region would be possible, but a little further north. However, there is an impenetrable backwaters in demanding terrain. Construction could take place here, but the expenses would be grandiose.

It follows that even though Russia is large, finding a suitable place for the spaceport has proved very difficult. As a result, three acceptable "points" remained: near the town of Sovetskaya Gavan, near the village of Svobodnyj-18 and at the southern tip of Sakhalin. The latter proved unsuitable due to its island isolation and weak production and construction base.

Being a spaceport near the village of Svobodnyj-18 proved to be cheaper, more comfortable and more accessible (transcontinental highway, Transsibir and near Blagoveščenskaja airport). And there was another important factor: there was already a massive rocket division. By the way, originally the spaceport was named Svobodnyj.

The confusion with the names here resembled a rosada. In Soviet times, the village of Uglegorsk turned into a territorially closed unit Svobodnyj-18, but after the perestroika, it again became the town of Uglegorsk. But not only is it now becoming a real city, but also a city that the majority of the population would like to name with a completely new name, and that is Ciolkovsky (80% of the city's population voted "for").

The name of the spaceport has also been changed. Now his name is definitely Vostočnyj. And now we have the opportunity to watch the beginning of its magnificent history live with the help of webcams.