Encyclopedia Astronautica
Novaya Zemlya

Sounding rocket launch location known to have been used for 2 launches in 1961, reaching up to 100 kilometers altitude.

Longitude: 53.7205 deg.
Latitude: 70.8403 deg.

Associated Countries

See also

Kosmos 2 In 1960 the Soviet government decreed development of a lightweight launch vehicle for launch of payloads not requiring R-7 family of boosters. A modification of the R-12 IRBM was selected as the first stage; a new high-performance second stage was developed using a unique Lox/UDMH propellant combination. After two failures, the first successful flight was on March 16, 1962. More...

Associated Launch Vehicles

R-12 Ukrainian intermediate range ballistic missile. The R-12 was the first operationally effective intermediate range ballistic missile, the first Soviet missile deployed with a thermonuclear warhead, and the first mass-produced missile in history. 2,300 of the storable propellant rockets were built and deployed in both mobile and silo-based versions for thirty years, from March 1959 to June 1989. It was a primary element in the Soviet deterrent threatening Western Europe and China throughout the Cold War. Deployment of R-12's to Cuba in 1962 precipitated the Cuba Missile Crisis. More...

Novaya Zemlya Chronology

1961 September 10 - . 05:50 GMT - . Launch Site: Novaya Zemlya. LV Family: Kosmos 2. Launch Vehicle: R-12.

1961 September 12 - . 05:00 GMT - . Launch Site: Novaya Zemlya. LV Family: Kosmos 2. Launch Vehicle: R-12.