World’s largest rocket mock-up installed in Baikonur

On the occasion of the event,  an open-air museum is being created in the park named after Georgiy Shubnikov, a pioneer-builder of Baikonur. A unique “fleet” of the carrier rocket mock-ups will be showcased here.

The models are being assembled by the leading aerospace manufacturers. For instance, the mock-up of the Vostok rocket was assembled at the S. P. Korolev Rocket and Space Corporation Energia, the N1 rocket mock-up was created by the Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center. Proton, Tsiklon and Zenit rocket mock-ups were designed by the JSC Center for Ground-Based Space Infrastructure Facilities Operation. The Progress Rocket Space Center designs the descent module of the Foton satellite.

"Each model in the future museum is not just an exhibit. It serves as a monument to the designers who developed this model, the workers who manufactured it and the test pilots who launched it,” the press service of Baikonur administration says.

The museum has already installed the descent module of the Foton satellite, presented by the Progress Rocket Space Center.

On 13 May, the employees of the Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center brought and installed the mock-up of the N1 carrier rocket. The height of the mock-up is 22 meters, which makes it the largest one in the world. There were four N1 carrier rocket launch attempts between 1969 and 1972, and all of them ended with faliure. 

The municipal administration says that new facilities are planned to be opened on the day of celebration of Baikonur’s 70^th anniversary.