Three orbital milestones launched from Baikonur cosmodrome

Sputnik, Laika and the ART-XC observatory all departed the same Kazakhstan launch site across six decades.

Luisa Marconi

Senior Space Correspondent

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Baikonur cosmodrome hosts historic launches AI illustrationhow this picture was made

Three landmark orbital missions left Earth from the Baikonur cosmodrome, across a span of 62 years. Sputnik, the first artificial satellite, lifted off from the site on 4 October 1957.^[3] Four weeks later, an R-7 rocket carried the dog Laika into orbit from the same launch region.^[2] On 13 July 2019, the Mikhail Pavlinsky ART-XC X-ray telescope launched from Baikonur aboard a Proton rocket.^[1] No additional launches from the site are confirmed in the filed records.

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The Mikhail Pavlinsky ART-XC telescope is the X-ray telescope on board the SRG observatory which was launched from the Baikonur cosmodrome on 13 July 2019 by the Proton rocket. · The Astronomer's Telegram
On November 3, 1957, an R-7 rocket lifted off from the launch region associated with the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Soviet Kazakhstan, carrying a dog named Laika into orbit. · Hindustan TimesIndia
A satellite began beeping from space on October 4, 1957, marking the launch of Sputnik, the first artificial satellite put into orbit. · Hindustan TimesIndia

The one we could place publishes from India. 1 could not be placed by their address. None is an official body: that part stands on reporting, not on the underlying document or transcript.