25-year-old Frenchman Dies While Attempting To Visit Kazakhstan's Baikonur Cosmodrome

A French citizen, aged 25, died after trying to walk to the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan from which Russia launches its rockets into space. As per Russia’s RIA news service, the Frenchman died from dehydration on June 10. The second French citizen, 27, who was with the deceased citizen is reportedly in the custody of the Russian officials.

The launching site of spacecraft by Russia in Baikonur is a restricted area guarded closely by security teams from Russia’s Ministry of Internal Affairs. The tours are often sold for those who want to witness a spacecraft launch.

The officials told Russia’s TASS news service that the Frenchmen were trekking through territory near the cosmodrome. One of them got ill. The other reportedly approached the guards of Baikonur Cosmodrome for help. However, his companion lost his life before the help could be given. The Russian authorities have launched an investigation.

It is unclear what the French citizens were doing before the unfortunate incident. The Baikonur Cosmodrome is one of the secretive areas that has been under shadow for a long time. In 2018, Russian explorer and blogger Konstantin Kosmodeinasky drove thousands of miles from Moscow to Baikonur before heading out into the desert with no lights or GPS to avoid detection by guards. They snuck into the facility with old Soviet and Russian space technology including a pair of decommissioned shuttles prototypes from the Buran Space Programme.

The Baikonur Cosmodrome is the historic site from where Sputnik 1 and Vostok 1 were launched. Sputnik was the first man-made Earth satellite, while Vostok carried Russian Yuri Gagarin in 1961. It is considered to be the first manned space flight. Presently, the two shuttles from the Buran space programme are left gathering dust at the facility. One was a test shuttle and the other was never used after the space programme ended in 1993.

The Baikonur Cosmodrome is the largest operational space launch facility in terms of area. All Russian crewed spaceflights are launched from Baikonur in Kazakhstan. It was founded by the Soviet Ministry Of Defence in 1955. It was originally built as the chief base of operations for the Soviet space programme.