14 DAY TRIAL // The world's busiest spaceport is located in Kazakhstan and is operated by the Russian Federation. The Asian nation has leased the land on which the 7,000-square-kilometer-large cosmodrome is located, deep within the Kazakh steppe, and so the Russians have the right to use it until 2050. They have to pay approximately $115 million per year in order to be able to operate the nine launch pads that make up the massive complex, which has seen more than 400 launches until now.
Built in the 1950s as a top secret military base, the Baikonur complex is by far the most massive and used such facility in the world, having survived both the fall of the Soviet Union and the not-entirely-smooth transition from Communism to democracy. After 1991, the place fell under the jurisdiction of Russia's new neighbor, but shortly after, through negotiations, the two parties concluded that the current arrangement was to their mutual benefit.
The launch procedures here are a bit different than, say, NASA's in the United States. Three days before each launch, the rocket is assembled at its designated building, and is then shipped out two days to the launch date. A massive rail system is used to transport the huge payloads, and the platforms on which the entire rocket is placed, completely outfitted with its boosters and all other elements, slowly move forward at a painstaking 3 miles (5 kilometers) per hour, about the average human speed.
Because the next Soyuz TMA-14 has launched today, at 7:49 am ET (1149 GMT), Russian officials have allowed some media crews inside the facility, and have given them permission to film the rocket on its way to the Gagarin Launch Pad, officially named Site Number 1. The rocket can be seen here being brought into a horizontal position to the site, carried backwards by the massive train. Because it's oriented this way, it's much more easier for engineers to lift the rocket directly into position than it would be if they brought the massive construction nose-first.
The new mission carries the members of Expedition 19 to the International Space Station, which includes Russian commander Gennady Padalka, US flight engineer Michael Barratt, as well as US space tourist and billionaire Charles Simonyi. The latter member is at his second spaceflight, having paid some 35 million dollars for a place on the Soyuz capsule. “We're looking very forward to welcoming them aboard in just a few days. It's going to be great to have them on board. Congratulations on another picture perfect launch,” Michael Fincke, the commander aboard the ISS, who watched the launch live, said.