Site 43

Launch site	Plesetsk Cosmodrome
Coordinates	62°55′12″N 40°28′1″E / 62.92000°N 40.46694°E / 62.92000; 40.46694
Short name	Pu-43
Operator	Russian Space Forces
Total launches	546
Launch pad(s)	Two
Site 43/3 launch history Status Active Launches 223 First launch 21 December 1965 R-7A Semyorka Last launch 27 October 2023 Soyuz-2.1b / Lotos-S1 №7 Associated rockets R-7A Semyorka (retired) Vostok-2M (retired) Voskhod (retired) Molniya-M(retired) Soyuz-U (retired) Soyuz-2 (active) Site 43/4 launch history Status Active Launches 323 First launch 25 July 1967 R-7A Semyorka Last launch 16 May 2024 Soyuz-2.1b / Kosmos 2576 Associated rockets R-7A Semyorka (retired) Vostok-2M (retired) Voskhod (retired) Molniya-M (retired) Soyuz-U (retired) Soyuz-M (retired) Soyuz-2 (active)

Site 43, also known as SK-3 and SK-4, is a launch complex at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in Russia. It consists of a two pads, Sites 43/3 and 43/4, and has been used by R-7 derived rockets since the early 1960s.

The site was originally built for use by R-7A Semyorka missiles. The first launch to use the complex was an R-7A test on 21 December 1965, from Site 43/3. The first launch from 43/4 followed on 25 July 1967.

After its retirement from service as a missile base, it was converted for use as a space launch complex. The first orbital launch was of a Voskhod rocket with Kosmos 313 on 3 December 1969.

Both pads were damaged by explosions in the 1980s. At 16:01 UTC on 18 March 1980, 48 people were killed when a Vostok-2M exploded during fueling operations at Pad 4. The disaster injured dozens more, while damaging the pad so severely that it was not used again until 1984. On 18 June 1987, a Soyuz-U rocket exploded at liftoff on Pad 3.^[1] Both were rebuilt, and are in service as of 2009.

References

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