Sary Shagan

Sary Shagan is an anti-ballistic missile testing range located in Kazakhstan at coordinates coord|46|23|N|72|52|E.

On 17 August, 1956 the Soviet Council of Ministers authorized plans for an experimental facility for missile defense located at Sary Shagan, on the west bank of Lake Balkhash. The first missile launched from the facility [ [http://www.astronautix.com/sites/sarhagan.htm Encyclopedia Astronautica - "Sary Shagan"] ] was a V-1000 on 16 October, 1958, but the facilities for full scale testing were not ready until 1961. [ [http://www.fas.org/spp/starwars/program/soviet/sary_1.htm FAS.org - "Sary Shagan General Overview"] ] Sary Shagan remains in use to this day, with the latest known launch at 21 January, 2006. [ [http://www.russianspaceweb.com/chronology_missiles.html Russian Space Web - "Missile Race between West and East"] ]

Other notable military complexes on site

In the 1970s the Vympel OKB built the Terra-3 laser testing centre at Sary Shagan. This laser complex would track Space Shuttle "Challenger" mission STS-41-G with a low-power laser on 10 October, 1984 causing malfunctions and discomfort for the crew, in response to the American Strategic Defense Initiative program and continued military use of the shuttle. [ [http://www.astronautix.com/flights/sts41g.htm Encyclopedia Astronautica - "STS-41-G"] ]

In 1977 the site got expanded with a modern Pechora/Daryal-type radar, to replace the old missile early warning radars. This new radar became operational in 1982.

References