The Yu. A. Gagarin State Scientific Research-and-Testing Cosmonaut Training Center (GCTC)[1] is a Russian training facility responsible for training cosmonauts for their space missions. It is the first cosmonaut training facility in Russia. It is located in Star City, Russia—a name which may refer to the facility itself and to the grounds on which it is located.
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The facility was originally known only as Military Unit 26266 or в/ч 26266, and was a secret training base for Soviet Cosmonaut candidates. The site was chosen for its proximity to Moscow and other infrastructure that would be essential for its function: Chkalovsky Airbase, and the Yaroslavl railroad.[2]. The densely forested area was originally a radar range with some existing infrastructure.
Military physician Colonel Yevgeny Karpov was appointed as the first chief of the cosmonaut training centre or Tsentr Podgotovki Kosmonavtov (TsPK) on February 24, 1960.[3] The centre was home to approximately 250 personnel divided into various departments who were responsible for the development of all aspects of the space program ranging from equipment to the well being of the cosmonauts. These included specialists in heat exchange and hygiene, survival clothing, surgery, and training staff. Initially cosmonaut candidates were housed at the nearby Frunze Central Airfield (Moscow), followed by an apartment block in Chkalovsky[2] before eventually moving to the newly built apartments on site where they would remain with their families throughout training.
Until April 2009 the center was owned and operated by the Russian Ministry of Defense in cooperation with Russian Federal Space Agency. On April 2009, Russia President Dmitry Medvedev signed a presidential decree transferring the center from the Defence Ministry to the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roskosmos)[4] The current administrator of the GCTC is cosmonaut Sergei Krikalyov.
The Cosmonaut Training Center was inaugurated on January 11, 1960 in Star City outside Moscow. In 1969 it was named after Yuri Gagarin, the first man to fly in space. In 1995 the Cosmonaut Training Center and Air Force Test and Training regiment were merged and reorganized into its current form.
The Center has also trained candidates from other countries of (or aligned to) the former Soviet bloc under the Intercosmos program, which got an initial boost from the joint Soviet-American Apollo-Soyuz flight in 1975. The Intercosmos program later included staff members from other countries as well (France, India, etc.) and provided ground work for the next step in continued and ongoing cooperation between Russia and the United States in joint space missions and for cross-training of US astronauts on Russian hardware in the framework of the Space Shuttle-Mir and ISS programs.
The facility contains infrastructure essential for the training of cosmonauts across a wide range of experiences, including simulating g-loads, mission specific/suit training, medical observation/testing and astronavigation.
Key GCTC facilities include: