Plesetsk Cosmodrome Site 43

"LC-43" redirects here. For the pad at Cape Canaveral, see Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Launch Complex 43.
Site 43
Launch site Plesetsk Cosmodrome
Location 62°55′12″N 40°28′1″E / 62.92000°N 40.46694°ECoordinates: 62°55′12″N 40°28′1″E / 62.92000°N 40.46694°E
Short name Pu-43
Operator Russian Space Forces
Total launches 497
Launch pad(s) Two
Site 43/3 launch history
Status Active
Launches 214
First launch 21 December 1965
Last launch 15 October 2002
Associated rockets R-7A Semyorka
Vostok-2M
Voskhod
Molniya-M
Soyuz-U
Site 43/4 launch history
Status Active
Launches 283
First launch 25 July 1967
Last launch 25 December 2014
Associated rockets R-7A Semyorka
Vostok-2M
Voskhod
Molniya-M
Soyuz-U
Soyuz-M
Soyuz-2
Soyuz-2-1v

Site 43, also known as SK-3 and SK-4, is a launch complex at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in Russia. It consists of a two pads, Sites 43/3 and 43/4, and has been used by R-7 derived rockets since the early 1960s.

The site was originally built for use by R-7A Semyorka missiles. The first launch to use the complex was an R-7A test on 21 December 1965, from Site 43/3. The first launch from 43/4 followed on 25 July 1967.

After its retirement from service as a missile base, it was converted for use as a space launch complex. The first orbital launch was of a Voskhod rocket with Kosmos 313 on 3 December 1969.

Both pads were damaged by explosions in the 1980s. At 16:01 GMT on 18 March 1980, 48 were killed when a Vostok-2M exploded during fuelling operations at Pad 4, ahead of the launch of a Tselina-D satellite. On 18 June 1987, a Soyuz-U rocket exploded at liftoff on Pad 3.[1] Both were rebuilt, and are in service as of 2009.

References

  1. ↑ Wade, Mark. "Plesetsk". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Retrieved 2009-03-18.