Baikonur Cosmodrome Site 31

Baikonur Site 31, also known as Site 31/6 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome, in Kazakhstan, is a launch site used by derivatives of the R-7 Semyorka missile. From 2011 onwards, it was supposed to be the launch site for crewed Soyuz missions to the International Space Station, when launches switched from the Soyuz-FG launch vehicle to the Soyuz-2, which was unable to use the launch pad at Site 1/5. However, Site 1/5 has undergone modifications that allow the crewed ISS missions to be launched from it. Only a few crewed missions to the International Space Station (ISS) are launched from Site 31/6 (Soyuz TMA-06M, Soyuz TMA-15M, Soyuz MS-02), when Site 1/5 is unavailable.

Site 31/6

A Soyuz-2 rocket at LC-31/6
Launch site	Baikonur Cosmodrome
Location	Kazakhstan
Operator	RVSN, VKS, Roscosmos
Total launches	TBC
Launch pad(s)	1
Orbital inclination range	49° – 99°
Launch history Status Active Launches 405 First launch 14 January 1961 R-7A Last launch 14 October 2020 Soyuz 2.1a / Soyuz MS-17 Associated rockets R-7A Vostok Voskhod Polyot Molniya Soyuz Soyuz-L Soyuz-U Soyuz-U2 Soyuz-FG/Fregat Soyuz-2 (current)

It was first used on 14 January 1961, for an R-7A ICBM test mission. It is currently used for commercial Soyuz-FG/Fregat missions, and Soyuz-2 launches. In the 1970s and early 1980s, several crewed missions were launched from the site.

A panorama of the Baikonur Cosmodrome Site 31 taken from atop the Soyuz support structure. A Zenit facility can be seen in the distance.