Setting off for the Stars
A trip to the Baikonur cosmodrome (Kazakhstan).
Watching the launch of spacecrafts
| Country: | Kazakhstan | View the route map »» |
| Itinerary: | Baikonur | |
| Tour duration: | 3 days / 2 nights; 5 days / 4 nights | |
To become a space tourist and fly into the space is extremely expensive today. However, this tour gives you an opportunity, among other things, to visit the legendary cosmodrome Baikonur - the largest Russian space centre. It was from Baikonur that the first artificial satellite was launched and the man flew into the space for the first time, which marked a completely new era in the exploration of the space.
The short excursion to the cosmodrome (space-vehicle launching site) Baikonur includes the watching of the launch of spacecrafts right on the site, participation in pre-launching events, familiarization with the cosmodrome’s launch and engineering complexes, meeting with the site’s managers and workers and visiting of launching pads and complexes, a museum and Gagarin’s house, alongside many interesting things other people can see only on TV.
Cosmodrome Baikonur is the world’s first and largest operational space launch facility (with a total area of 6,717 km2) situated in southern Kazakhstan. Manned spacecrafts ‘Vostok’, ‘Voskhod’ and ‘Soyuz’, orbital stations ‘Salyut’ and ‘Mir’, space shuttle ‘Energiya’ - ‘Buran’ and various interplanetary spacecrafts and artificial satellites were launched from Baikonur.
Welcome to the cradle of cosmonautics - Baikonur!
3-days itinerary
5-days itinerary
- Itinerary
Services & Cost
Launching dates- Useful Information
Route Map
HOW TO GET TO BAIKONUR
| 3-days tour program: | |
| Day 1. | Arrival at Baikonur. To arrive in Baikonur, one of the options listed below can be chosen: Meeting at checkpoint No. 1 / at the airport Krayniy / at the Tyuratam railway station. Accommodation at Tsentralnaya Hotel. Rest in the hotel. |
| Day 2. | Excursion program in Baikonur. Observing the launch Breakfast at 08:00. Transfer to Site 2 at 09:00. Baikonur Cosmodrome Museum. S.P. Korolev and Y.A. Gagarin Memorial houses. Buran Orbiter. Transfer to Site 1. Visiting the launch complex “Gagarin’s start”. Visiting the monument to the Conquerors of Space. Transfer to Site 250A building 60. Visiting the command post of the "Energia” heavy-lift launch vehicle. Transfer to Site 23. Visiting the "Saturn” measurement complex. Transfer to the city. Transfer to the museum at 16:45. The Museum of Baikonur Cosmodrome History. Guided city bus tour (stops: squares, monuments, Soyuz launch vehicle, the memorial to the fallen rocket testers). - Lunch, Dinner (on your own) - Free time, rest. |
| Day 3. | Baikonur. Observing the launch. Departure Early breakfast at 05:30. Transfer to site 17 at 06:30. Seeing off the crew from the Cosmonaut Hotel. Visiting the Cosmonauts Avenue. Transfer to Site 254 at 09:00. Observation of the cosmonaut crew report at 10:05. Visiting the cosmonauts´ press conference hall. Transfer to the OP (Observation Post). Observing the Soyuz MS-16 LV launch at 13:05. Transfer to the city. Lunch, Dinner (on your own). Check-out, departure. |
Cost includes:
|
Cost does not include:
Additional services:
|
Notes:
- Categories should be confirmed by a legally validable document (reference from a school, university, college and other educational institutions).
- Photo and video should be taken only after the permission of regulatory authorities.
- Translation services are available at additional cost upon request.
- Central Asia Travel is not responsible for launch date postponement or cancellation.
Hotels.
The tour comes with the following accommodation:
| City | Hotels |
| Baikonur | Hotel Central 3* or similar |
Launching dates 2020
Soyuz MS. Manned launch.
Launch dates:
09.04.2020 - Soyuz MS-16 manned launch
14.10.2020 - Soyuz MS-17 manned launch
Soyuz MS - Russian manned transport spacecraft.
Progress M. Expendable cargo spacecraft launch.
The preliminary schedule for 2020:
25.04.2020 - Progress MS-14 cargo program.
20.08.2020 - Progress MS-15 cargo program
22.10.2020 - Progress MS-16 cargo program
Progress M is a series of transport unmanned cargo spacecraft developed in the USSR for the supply of orbital stations on basis of Soyuz launch vehicle. It is intended to deliver more than 2,600 kilograms of various cargoes, including food, fuel, water to the ISS.
Proton lauch vehicle program. Cargo unmanned.
Launch dates are not settled yet
The Proton launch vehicle is a heavy-class launch vehicle designed for launching automatic spacecraft into Earth orbit and further into outer space. The upgraded version of the Proton-M launch vehicle has improved operational and environmental performance.
USEFUL INFORMATION
Required permissions and documents.
To visit the Baikonur cosmodrome you are to obtain special permissions from Roskosmos. The documents submission period opens 70 days before the start of the program and closes 30 days before the tour begins for the citizens of the countries of the former USSR and 45 days before the beginning for all others.
The list of documents required to obtain permissions to visit Baykonur:
| • | a scanned copy of the passport; |
| • | a filled form (full name, nationality, birth date, passport series and No., passport validity term, passport issuance date, organization that issued the passport, official address, occupation and position). |
Hotels
This tour provides accommodation at the Central Hotel 3*, which is one of the main hotels of the town of Baikonur situated in the Central Square. The hotel possesses everything required to make your stay comfortable.
Some terms:
| Operations and checkout building | A building where spacecrafts are assembled and tested. |
| International Space School | Contains a unique museum where tourists can participate directly in launching models of spacecrafts. |
| Shuttle ‘Buran’ | Today the famous shuttle is a museum article in the territory of the space centre. |
| Observation Post | A point, from which the launch of a spacecraft may be observed; it is situated at a safe distance from the launch pad and from there you can easily make photos and videos of the launch. |
| ISS | The International Space Station (ISS). It is a space station, or a habitable artificial satellite, in low Earth orbit. |
Climate:
Winter is moderately cold, the days are mostly cloudy and misty. The average temperature during the day is -6 -8 °С, in the night time -12 -15 °С. In the second half of December and in January the temperature may drop as low as -25 -30 °С. However, it may thaw in any winter month. Precipitation usually falls in the form of snow. The snow cover is formed by mid-December, reaching 10 cm in thickness (in snowy winters - 20 cm) by the end of winter. Almost every winter features 10-12 days when snowstorms occur and 5-6 misty days.
Spring is characterised by unstable weather and great differences between night and day temperatures. The snow cover disappears early in April. On the first days of spring the average daytime temperature fluctuates between -3 and -10 °С, in the end of the season it may rise to 20 degrees. The night temperature in the beginning of spring ranges between 10 -12 and 0 °С. Precipitation mostly has the form of occasional rains. March and April together feature an average of 7 misty days. In the first half of May warm weather usually sets in, with but a few cloudy days.
Summer is dry and hot. The average temperature during the day is +25 +30 °С, with a maximum of +40 +43 °С. At night the temperature drops to +15 +18 °С. On the hottest days the surface of the soil may be heated to +60 °С.
The first half of autumn is dry and warm, the second half is cloudy and cool. The average temperature during the day is +6 +15 °С, at night - +5 +8 °С. Precipitation usually has the form of drizzling rains; it starts snowing in mid-November. In summer most of the winds blow from the west and southwest, in autumn and winter - from the north and northeast. In most cases they blow with a speed of 3-5 m/sec; however, autumn and winter feature gale-force winds having a speed of 15-20 m/sec and causing trouble to all types of transport.
Route Map
HOW TO GET TO BAIKONUR
By air. Flight Moscow - Kyzylorda - Moscow (Domodedovo Airport - Kyzylorda Airport).
| Flight number | Itinerary | Days | Departure time | Arrival time |
| 6R 9941 | Moscow - Kyzylorda | ....5.. | 11:00 | 17:00 |
| 6R 9942 | Kyzylorda - Moscow | ....5.. | 18:30 | 18:45 |
Train 006F/005F via Moscow (Kazansky Railway Station). Moscow - Tyuratam - Moscow; travel time in one direction - 51 hours 40 minutes.
| Train No. | Itinerary | Departure days | Departure time | Travel time | Arrival time |
| 033C | Kyzylorda - Tyuratam | Daily | 23:59 | 3 hours 6 min | 23:30 |
| 034Т | Tyuratam - Kyzylorda | Daily | 15:54 | 3 hours 26 min | 16:24 |
Train 006F / 005F via Moscow (Kazansky Railway Station). Moscow - Tyuratam - Moscow.
| Train No. | Itinerary | Departure days | Departure time | Travel time | Arrival time |
| 006F | Moscow - Tyuratam | .23...7 | 22:40 | 2 days | 00:59 |
| 005F | Tyuratam - Moscow | 1..45.7 | 15:54 | .23..67 | 11:15 |
Train 006F/005F via Tashkent. Tashkent - Tyuratam - Tashkent; travel time in one direction - 17 hours 20 minutes.
| Train No. | Itinerary | Departure days | Departure time | Travel time | Arrival time |
| 005F | Tashkent - Tyuratam | ...4.6. | 18:50 | 17 hours 20 min | 13:20 |
| 006F | Tyuratam - Tashkent | ..3.56. | 01:02 | 16 hours 48 min | 16:50 |
De luxe train Kazakhstan 007C / 007R via Moscow (Paveletsky Railway Station). Moscow - Tyuratam - Moscow; travel time in one direction - 52 hours.
| Train No. | Itinerary | Departure days | Departure time | Travel time | Arrival time |
| 007C | Moscow - Tyuratam | day about | 21:33 | 52 hours | 04:31 |
| 007R | Tyuratam - Moscow | day about | 07:44 | 52 hours | 10:38 |
De luxe train Kazakhstan 007C / 007R via Almaty. Almaty - Tyuratam - Almaty; travel time in one direction - 26 hours.
| Train No. | Itinerary | Departure days | Departure time | Travel time | Arrival time |
| 007R | Алматы - Tyuratam | day about | 08:00 | 26 hours | 10:27 |
| 007C | Tyuratam - Алматы | day about | 04:41 | 26 hours | 06:00 |
Train 018SH / 017SH via Moscow (Kazansky Railway Station). Moscow - Tyuratam - Moscow; travel time in one direction - 49 hours.
| Train No. | Itinerary | Departure days | Departure time | Travel time | Arrival time |
| 018SH | Moscow - Tyuratam | ...4.6. | 22:40 | 49 hours | 00:59 |
| 017SH | Tyuratam - Moscow | .2.4... | 13:20 | 49 hours | 11:15 |
Train 018SH / 017SH via Bishkek. Bishkek - Tyuratam - Bishkek; travel time in one direction - 26 hours.
| Train No. | Itinerary | Departure days | Departure time | Travel time | Arrival time |
| 017SH | Bishkek - Tyuratam | 1.3.... | 12:39 | 26 hours | 13:10 |
| 018SH | Tyuratam - Bishkek | .2....7 | 01:02 | 26 hours | 02:06 |
- Itinerary
Services & Cost
Launching dates- Useful Information
Route Map
HOW TO GET TO BAIKONUR
| 5-days tour program: | |
| Day 1. | Arrival at Baikonur. To arrive in Baikonur, one of the options listed below can be chosen: Meeting at checkpoint No. 1 / at the airport Krayniy / at the Tyuratam railway station. Accommodation at Tsentralnaya Hotel. Rest in the hotel. |
| Day 2. | Excursion program in Baikonur. Early breakfast at 05:00. Transfer to Site 31 at 06:00. Watching the rocket going out from the assembly and testing facility. Observing the rocket transportation. Observing the installation of the Soyuz rocket at the launch site. Transfer to Site 41. Place of Marshal Nedelin death. Transfer to Site 45. Visit to the Zenit launch complex. Transfer to Site 42. Visiting the Assembly and Testing Facility of Zenit Launch Vehicle (in russian: МИКа КРК «Зенит») Transfer to the city. Transfer to the museum at 15:45. The Museum of Baikonur Cosmodrome History. Guided city bus tour (stops: squares, monuments, Soyuz launch vehicle, the memorial to fallen rocket testers).- Free time, rest Lunch, Dinner (on your own). |
| Day 3. | Excursion program in Baikonur. Breakfast at the hotel at 09:00 in the morning. Transfer to International Space School at 10:00 in the morning. International Space School (Museum). Free time. Night at the hotel. Lunch, Dinner (on your own). |
| Day 4. | Excursion program in Baikonur. Breakfast at 08:00. Transfer to Site 2 at 09:00. Baikonur Cosmodrome Museum. S.P. Korolev and Y.A. Gagarin Memorial houses. Buran Orbiter. Transfer to Site 1. Visiting the launch complex “Gagarin’s start”. Visiting the monument to the Conquerors of Space. Transfer to Site 250A building 60. Visiting the command post of the "Energia” heavy-lift launch vehicle. Transfer to Site 23. Visiting the "Saturn” measurement complex. Transfer to the city. Free time, rest. Lunch, Dinner (on your own). |
| Day 5. | Baikonur. Observing the launch. Departure. Early breakfast at 05:30.Transfer to site 17 at 06:30. Seeing off the crew from the Cosmonaut Hotel. Visiting the Cosmonauts Avenue. Transfer to Site 254 at 09:00. Observing of the cosmonaut crew report at 10:05. Visiting the cosmonauts´ press conference hall. Transfer to the OP (Observation Post). Observing the Soyuz MS-16 LV launch at 13:05.Transfer to the city. Lunch, Dinner (on your own). Check-out, departure. |
Cost includes:
|
Cost does not include:
Additional services:
|
Notes:
- Categories should be confirmed by a legally validable document (reference from a school, university, college and other educational institutions).
- Photo and video should be taken only after the permission of regulatory authorities.
- Translation services are available at additional cost upon request.
- Central Asia Travel is not responsible for launch date postponement or cancellation.
Hotels.
The tour comes with the following accommodation:
| City | Hotels |
| Baikonur | Hotel Central 3* or similar |
Launching dates 2020
Soyuz MS. Manned launch.
Launch dates:
09.04.2020 - Soyuz MS-16 manned launch
14.10.2020 - Soyuz MS-17 manned launch
Soyuz MS - Russian manned transport spacecraft.
Progress M. Expendable cargo spacecraft launch.
The preliminary schedule for 2020:
25.04.2020 - Progress MS-14 cargo program.
20.08.2020 - Progress MS-15 cargo program
22.10.2020 - Progress MS-16 cargo program
Progress M is a series of transport unmanned cargo spacecraft developed in the USSR for the supply of orbital stations on basis of Soyuz launch vehicle. It is intended to deliver more than 2,600 kilograms of various cargoes, including food, fuel, water to the ISS.
Proton lauch vehicle program. Cargo unmanned.
Launch dates are not settled yet
The Proton launch vehicle is a heavy-class launch vehicle designed for launching automatic spacecraft into Earth orbit and further into outer space. The upgraded version of the Proton-M launch vehicle has improved operational and environmental performance.
USEFUL INFORMATION
Required permissions and documents.
To visit the Baikonur cosmodrome you are to obtain special permissions from Roskosmos. The documents submission period opens 70 days before the start of the program and closes 30 days before the tour begins for the citizens of the countries of the former USSR and 45 days before the beginning for all others.
The list of documents required to obtain permissions to visit Baykonur:
| • | a scanned copy of the passport; |
| • | a filled form (full name, nationality, birth date, passport series and No., passport validity term, passport issuance date, organization that issued the passport, official address, occupation and position). |
Hotels
This tour provides accommodation at the Central Hotel 3*, which is one of the main hotels of the town of Baikonur situated in the Central Square. The hotel possesses everything required to make your stay comfortable.
Some terms:
| Operations and checkout building | A building where spacecrafts are assembled and tested. |
| International Space School | Contains a unique museum where tourists can participate directly in launching models of spacecrafts. |
| Shuttle ‘Buran’ | Today the famous shuttle is a museum article in the territory of the space centre. |
| Observation Post | A point, from which the launch of a spacecraft may be observed; it is situated at a safe distance from the launch pad and from there you can easily make photos and videos of the launch. |
| ISS | The International Space Station (ISS). It is a space station, or a habitable artificial satellite, in low Earth orbit. |
Climate:
Winter is moderately cold, the days are mostly cloudy and misty. The average temperature during the day is -6 -8 °С, in the night time -12 -15 °С. In the second half of December and in January the temperature may drop as low as -25 -30 °С. However, it may thaw in any winter month. Precipitation usually falls in the form of snow. The snow cover is formed by mid-December, reaching 10 cm in thickness (in snowy winters - 20 cm) by the end of winter. Almost every winter features 10-12 days when snowstorms occur and 5-6 misty days.
Spring is characterised by unstable weather and great differences between night and day temperatures. The snow cover disappears early in April. On the first days of spring the average daytime temperature fluctuates between -3 and -10 °С, in the end of the season it may rise to 20 degrees. The night temperature in the beginning of spring ranges between 10 -12 and 0 °С. Precipitation mostly has the form of occasional rains. March and April together feature an average of 7 misty days. In the first half of May warm weather usually sets in, with but a few cloudy days.
Summer is dry and hot. The average temperature during the day is +25 +30 °С, with a maximum of +40 +43 °С. At night the temperature drops to +15 +18 °С. On the hottest days the surface of the soil may be heated to +60 °С.
The first half of autumn is dry and warm, the second half is cloudy and cool. The average temperature during the day is +6 +15 °С, at night - +5 +8 °С. Precipitation usually has the form of drizzling rains; it starts snowing in mid-November. In summer most of the winds blow from the west and southwest, in autumn and winter - from the north and northeast. In most cases they blow with a speed of 3-5 m/sec; however, autumn and winter feature gale-force winds having a speed of 15-20 m/sec and causing trouble to all types of transport.
Route Map
HOW TO GET TO BAIKONUR
By air. Flight Moscow - Kyzylorda - Moscow (Domodedovo Airport - Kyzylorda Airport).
| Flight number | Itinerary | Days | Departure time | Arrival time |
| 6R 9941 | Moscow - Kyzylorda | ....5.. | 11:00 | 17:00 |
| 6R 9942 | Kyzylorda - Moscow | ....5.. | 18:30 | 18:45 |
Train 006F/005F via Moscow (Kazansky Railway Station). Moscow - Tyuratam - Moscow; travel time in one direction - 51 hours 40 minutes.
| Train No. | Itinerary | Departure days | Departure time | Travel time | Arrival time |
| 033C | Kyzylorda - Tyuratam | Daily | 23:59 | 3 hours 6 min | 23:30 |
| 034Т | Tyuratam - Kyzylorda | Daily | 15:54 | 3 hours 26 min | 16:24 |
Train 006F / 005F via Moscow (Kazansky Railway Station). Moscow - Tyuratam - Moscow.
| Train No. | Itinerary | Departure days | Departure time | Travel time | Arrival time |
| 006F | Moscow - Tyuratam | .23...7 | 22:40 | 2 days | 00:59 |
| 005F | Tyuratam - Moscow | 1..45.7 | 15:54 | .23..67 | 11:15 |
Train 006F/005F via Tashkent. Tashkent - Tyuratam - Tashkent; travel time in one direction - 17 hours 20 minutes.
| Train No. | Itinerary | Departure days | Departure time | Travel time | Arrival time |
| 005F | Tashkent - Tyuratam | ...4.6. | 18:50 | 17 hours 20 min | 13:20 |
| 006F | Tyuratam - Tashkent | ..3.56. | 01:02 | 16 hours 48 min | 16:50 |
De luxe train Kazakhstan 007C / 007R via Moscow (Paveletsky Railway Station). Moscow - Tyuratam - Moscow; travel time in one direction - 52 hours.
| Train No. | Itinerary | Departure days | Departure time | Travel time | Arrival time |
| 007C | Moscow - Tyuratam | day about | 21:33 | 52 hours | 04:31 |
| 007R | Tyuratam - Moscow | day about | 07:44 | 52 hours | 10:38 |
De luxe train Kazakhstan 007C / 007R via Almaty. Almaty - Tyuratam - Almaty; travel time in one direction - 26 hours.
| Train No. | Itinerary | Departure days | Departure time | Travel time | Arrival time |
| 007R | Алматы - Tyuratam | day about | 08:00 | 26 hours | 10:27 |
| 007C | Tyuratam - Алматы | day about | 04:41 | 26 hours | 06:00 |
Train 018SH / 017SH via Moscow (Kazansky Railway Station). Moscow - Tyuratam - Moscow; travel time in one direction - 49 hours.
| Train No. | Itinerary | Departure days | Departure time | Travel time | Arrival time |
| 018SH | Moscow - Tyuratam | ...4.6. | 22:40 | 49 hours | 00:59 |
| 017SH | Tyuratam - Moscow | .2.4... | 13:20 | 49 hours | 11:15 |
Train 018SH / 017SH via Bishkek. Bishkek - Tyuratam - Bishkek; travel time in one direction - 26 hours.
| Train No. | Itinerary | Departure days | Departure time | Travel time | Arrival time |
| 017SH | Bishkek - Tyuratam | 1.3.... | 12:39 | 26 hours | 13:10 |
| 018SH | Tyuratam - Bishkek | .2....7 | 01:02 | 26 hours | 02:06 |
Photos of the tour:
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