Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan

I am delighted! I am big fan of space exploration, and this is my first postcard from Kazakhstan!
Baikonur Cosmodrome is Earth's first and largest operational space launch facility. It is located in the desert steppe of Kazakhstan, about 200 kilometres east of the Aral Sea, north of the Syr Darya river, near Tyuratam railway station, at 90 metres above sea level. It is leased by the Kazakh Government to Russia and is managed jointly by the Roscosmos State Corporation and the Russian Aerospace Forces. The shape of the area leased is an ellipse, measuring 90 kilometres east–west by 85 kilometres north–south, with the cosmodrome at the centre. It was originally built by the Soviet Union in the late 1950s as the base of operations for its space program. Both Vostok 1, the first manned spacecraft in human history, and before it, Sputnik 1, the world's first orbital spaceflight of any sort, were launched from one of Baikonur's launch pads, which is now known as Gagarin's Start, named after Yuri Gagarin.

This stamp is from set of two stamps Water Birds - joint Issue with Azerbaijan, issued od 24.11.2010. Bird on stamp is Phoenicopterus roseus - Greater flamingo.


Thank you Sergey!