Where is the Baikonur Cosmodrome?

The Soviet Union built Baikonur in the 1950s, and it launched Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite, in 1957. Yuri Gagarin lifted off from here in 1961 to become the first person in space. After the Soviet Union collapsed, Russia leased the site and surrounding town from Kazakhstan, with the current lease running until 2050. For many years after the Space Shuttle retired in 2011, Soyuz rockets from Baikonur were the only way to send astronauts to the International Space Station. Launch pad 1, known as 'Gagarin's Start', was used for decades.