The N-1 Moon Rocket

Launch Site

Launch Site & Facilities

Note for links to Russian language sites:

I have included Russian language sources, there are plenty of online translation services available that will help you navigate these pages.

Google online translation:
http://www.google.com/language_tools?hl=EN
Babelfish online translation:
http://babelfish.altavista.com/

The N-1 rockets were launched from Baikonur, the oldest working spaceport in the world.

It was from here that the first satellite Sputnik 1 was launched, and the first man is space, Yuri Gagarin launched, along with many other space firsts.

Work began on the N1 facilities in (date) under the direction of Sergei Korolev, the chief designer.

There were two launch pads, (how far apart?) with some blockhouses in between them.


CIA spy photo of the lauch site	CIA model of the N-1 launch Facilities

The twin pads meant that work could proceed rapidly, and many of the most famous shots show a test rocket on one pad, while a second is being prepared for launch.

The rear N-1 is a test model, note the lack of an escape tower.

The rockets were carried to the launch pads on a transporter known as the grasshopper, pulled by two locomotives. The rockets were carried from the assembly building horizontally and base first, then erected on the pad when they got there.

There were several extremely distinctive features at the N-1 launch pad.

Lightning Conductors

The two tallest structures at each launch site were lightning conductors, to protect the rocket from lightning strikes. These were 145m in height.
There's a lovely shot of one of these towers on the "Novosti Kosmonavtiki" site here.

Rotating service tower

The gantry that provided access to the rocket once it was in place on the pad was another very tall structure, (140m ) in height, including the crane on the top. This whole immense structure could be rotated away from the rocket just before the launch – the base sections were on a circular section of track, 60 metres in radius. The actual gantry was 123 metres tall, with a crane on top.

Here is the assembly at the end of the rotating section, at the foot of one of the legs that supported the huge N-1 main gantry:
Rotating section

Blast pits.

The N1 rocket was placed over a circular blast pit, onto a strong round central support, (see pictures of it approaching the launch point above, and the picture below). There were several systems to ensure this was accurate – the “reference ring” ion the base of the rocket, (see my N-1 structure page), and four ‘paddles’ attached to the base which were part of an ultrasonic system to ensure the rocket was perfectly upright. Both of these were left behind when the N1 launched.

From the central pit radiated three outer blast pits which directed the powerful exhaust away from the main rocket.

Google Maps has some excellent imagery of the remains of the launch complexes.

Take a look here, and explore some of the links: Google Maps
Or here to see the two launch pads: Launch Pads

They are the two pale circular areas, each with three blast pits around, and a dark rail track going up and right. You can zoom in a lot more!

Map showing the pad layout at Baikonur

Novosti Kosmonavtiki has some awesome photo galleries of the remains of the N-1 equipment here. These facilities are now dangerous, and access is not generally permitted.

Gallery 1
Gallery 2

Serious damage was done to one of the launch sites when the third (?) launch attempted exploded just above the pad. The other was later converted for use in the Buran / Energia program. In many photos you can clearly see the distinctive arrangement of the triple blast pits. (I made extensive use of these photos when modelling the launch site – this almost certainly means that not all details are accurate for the pad at the time of the N-1 program).

Modelling the facilities.

One of the goals of my modelling project was to recreate some of the most famous images of the N-1, of two of them standing on the launch pads. Also if I was to animate a launch, I'd need somewhere to launch it from.

Two N-1 rockets on the pad.

Note in particular:

The one at the front is the N1-5L, note the strip of grey on the right.
The one on the left is a test mock-up, note the lack of an escape system on top. It's the 1M1, I think.
Note the steps winding up the gantry on the left! A long way to climb.
This is one of the best reference shots for gantry information.


N-1 Top	N-1 History	N-1 Features	Launch site	My Model	N-1 Galleries	N-1 Links

All rendered graphics © Nick Stevens. You may use the in-line illustrations on your own web pages, provided that you give me a credit, and provide a link back to my N-1 home page. Very high resolution versions of all rendered images, and animations, are available for a fee. Contact Nick Stevens at the e-mail address below for details.

Thanks & Credits

These web pages would not have been possible without the help of many people who provided information, and pointed me the right way. Many run web sites which are listed in the LINKS section.

My particular thanks go to the people hanging out in the IAAA mailing list, the space modelers list, the forums at Novosti Kosmonavtiki, and specifically:

Pjotr Druzinin for tirelessy coping with my computer translated Russian, and dumb questions!
Alexander Shliadinsky for permission to use his excellent diagrams, aalso tireless advice via computer translation.

If you found this page interesting, you may also like to see some of my other pages on this web site - please explore the links on the buttons below to see more of my pages: