Star City, Russia

Star City, Russia, officially known as Zvyozdny gorodok, is a highly secured, closed town in Moscow Oblast that serves as the primary training center for the Russian space program. Established in 1960 as a secret military facility, it became the home of the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center, where all Soviet and, later, Russian cosmonauts have been prepared for their missions. The site has also trained numerous NASA astronauts and international spacefarers for flights aboard the Soyuz spacecraft and long-duration stays on the Mir space station and the International Space Station.

History

The settlement was constructed under the direction of the Soviet Air Forces shortly after the launch of Sputnik 1 to support the burgeoning Vostok programme. Its existence was a state secret, with its location omitted from maps, and it was initially known only by its postal code designation. Following the historic flight of Yuri Gagarin, the first human in space, the training center was named in his honor in 1968. Throughout the Cold War, it was the epicenter of Soviet cosmonaut training, competing directly with facilities like NASA's Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the town faced significant financial challenges but continued operations through partnerships on the International Space Station program and commercial contracts.

Facilities and infrastructure

The core facility is the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center, which houses an extensive array of specialized simulators and test equipment. Key installations include full-scale mock-ups of the Soyuz orbital module and the Russian Orbital Segment of the International Space Station. The center features a large centrifuge for simulating high-G forces during launch and re-entry, and the Hydro Laboratory, a massive water tank used for neutral buoyancy training to simulate extravehicular activity. Supporting residential and social infrastructure within the closed town includes apartment blocks, schools, a metro station, and the Church of the Transfiguration.

Training programs

Training regimens are comprehensive and multidisciplinary, designed to prepare crews for all phases of a space mission. Cosmonauts and international astronauts undergo rigorous instruction in Soyuz spacecraft systems, International Space Station module operations, and robotics for controlling the Canadarm2. Survival training in harsh environments, such as the forests of Moscow Oblast or the waters of the Black Sea, is conducted to prepare for emergency landings. Extensive extravehicular activity training is performed in the Hydro Laboratory, while flight controllers and support personnel are trained in dedicated mission control simulators.

Notable residents and personnel

The town has been home to many iconic figures in space exploration history. The first cohort, known as the Voskhod group, included legends like Yuri Gagarin, Gherman Titov, and Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman in space. Later generations featured prominent cosmonauts such as Alexei Leonov, who performed the first spacewalk, and long-duration flight specialists like Valery Polyakov. The center has been directed by notable individuals including cosmonaut Pavel Popovich, and its current head is former Roscosmos cosmonaut Yuri Lonchakov. Numerous NASA astronauts, including Scott Kelly and Christina Koch, have also resided there during training.

In popular culture

The secretive and historic nature of the site has made it a compelling setting for various films, documentaries, and literary works. It was prominently featured in the 2000 Russian film *The Star* and served as a filming location for the 2017 feature film *Salyut 7*. The training facilities have been documented in television series such as the BBC's *Cosmonauts: How Russia Won the Space Race* and the National Geographic series *Mars*. It is also referenced in Tom Wolfe's book *The Right Stuff* and in the video game Kerbal Space Program.

Category:Closed cities in Russia Category:Space program of Russia Category:Moscow Oblast