Ghosts of the USSR: Inside Russia's desert cosmodrome where rusting hangars storing decades-old Soviet rockets sit alongside Putin's modern space port - after urban explorer died trying to reach remote complex
Eerie photographs taken inside Russia's desert cosmodrome show how USSR-era space craft have been left to rust in an abandoned hangar in Kazakhstan.
The Baikonur Cosmodrome, which is rented by Russia, is a restricted area and guarded closely by security teams from Russia's Ministry of Internal Affairs - although tours are sold for those who want to witness a spacecraft launch.
The enormous Cold War era facility is located deep within Kazakhstan's desert steppe, more than 20 miles away from the nearest town after which the spaceport is named.
Baikonur was the world's first space launch facility, with both Sputnik 1 (the first artificial Earth satellite) and Yuri Gagarin's Vostok 1 (responsible for the first manned spaceflight) having been launched from it.
Today it remains the largest launch facility and is still used to send Putin's astronauts to and from the International Space Station. But the mysterious space base is also home to restricted areas that house a treasure trove of decommissioned Soviet-era spacecraft and tech.
A Frenchman died this week of apparent of dehydration after illegally entering the territory and spending at least three days hiding from law enforcement.
Eerie photographs taken inside Russia's enormous desert cosmodrome show how USSR-era space craft have been left to rust in an abandoned hangar in Kazakhstan
The Cold War era facility is located deep within Kazakhstan 's desert steppe, more than 20 miles away from the nearest town after which the spaceport is named. Relics of the Soviet Union's now-defunct Buran programme have been left to rust in an abandoned hangar
Relics of the Soviet Union's now-defunct Buran programme have been left to rust in an abandoned desert hangar in Kazakhstan.
Two shuttles and a rocket are among the Cold War era relics lying in the hangar, which sits next to the modern space port that Russia still uses today.
Baikonur, located about 1,500 miles southeast of Moscow, is not open to the public, but a few so-called 'urban explorers' have illegally snuck into the facility in a bid to glimpse at its hidden space history.
A 24-year-old Frenchman 'illegally entered the cosmodrome' this past week for 'extreme' tourism and died, Russian authorities have said.
'Our embassy... has been informed of the death of a French tourist. It has been mobilised to offer support to his family,' a diplomatic source said Thursday, two days after Russian authorities announced the death.
The man appeared to have died of 'dehydration in extremely hot and dry temperatures, complicated by chronic illnesses,' the statement continued.
He had been accompanied by another Frenchman, aged 27. The pair spent at least three days hiding from law enforcement at the facility, according to investigators.
The surviving Frenchman was detained and then released following a hearing at a military court at Baikonur on Tuesday, a court official has confirmed.
Baikonur, located about 1,500 miles southeast of Moscow, is not open to the public, but a few so-called 'urban explorers' have illegally snuck into the facility
Baikonur was the world's first space launch facility and today is still used to send Putin 's astronauts to and from the International Space Station
Installation platforms for the Buran Soviet/Russian reusable space shuttle at Baikonur Cosmodrome
A mock-up of the Buran Soviet/Russian reusable space shuttle at an assembling and refueling complex at Baikonur Cosmodrome
Eerie photographs have emerged showing how USSR-era space shuttles have been left to rust in an abandoned desert hangar in Kazakhstan
Pictured is the inside of the shuttle launch module in the Baikonur cosmodrome
With its many abandoned Soviet-era space relics, the Baikonur cosmodrome has iconic status for 'urban explorers' who like to access out-of-bounds sites, often illegally and at great risk.
An official from the investigative committee had revealed on Tuesday that 'there are extreme tourists who get detained here two or three times a year'.
Adventurers have documented their journeys to the hangars on YouTube, with some alleging they had to walk for several days and nights through the Kazakh steppe, avoiding military patrols.
Since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, Russia has leased Baikonur from Kazakhstan. The legendary base is where Yuri Gagarin - the first man in space - blasted off from in 1961.
The current lease runs out in 2050 and the Roscosmos space agency is continuing to send Russian and foreign crews to the International Space Station from Baikonur.
Two test shuttles were found inside a derelict Soviet warehouse near the Cosmodrome Baikonur, 125 miles east of the Aral Sea.
They were both developed as part of Moscow's Buran programme which was shut down in 1993 - but neither of the craft were sent to space.
In the same building, photographers pictured a vast Energia rocket, designed to propel the Buran, an unmanned space plane, into orbit.
The huge hangar was originally used to build the shuttles and roll them out to the launch pad - but only one was ever flown
The test shuttle explorers were found inside a derelict Soviet warehouse near the Cosmodrome Baikonur, 125 miles east of the Aral Sea
In the same building, photographers pictured a vast Energia rocket (pictured), designed to propel the Buran, an unmanned space plane, into orbit
Alexander Kaunas, from Russia, said he walked 24 miles through the desert to reach the hangar - once a hub of activity but now left derelict - and photograph the unused shuttles and rocket. He got close enough to picture the interior of one of the shuttles (above)
The Soviets did manage to launch one uncrewed flight of the Buran shuttle on the Energia rocket carrier (pictured) from Baikonur cosmodrome on November 15, 1988
The entrance to a space shuttle module in one of Baikonur's warehouses
A mock-up of the Buran Soviet/Russian reusable space shuttle at an assembling and refuelling complex at Baikonur Cosmodrome
Pictured are installation platforms for the Buran Soviet/Russian reusable space shuttle at Baikonur Cosmodrome
The USSR designed the rocket to compete with NASA's Saturn V, the super-lift launch vehicle that supported the Apollo mission to the moon.
Alexander Kaunas, from Russia, said he walked 24 miles through the desert to reach the hangar - once a hub of activity but now left derelict - and photograph the unused shuttles and rocket.
Like Nasa's Space Shuttles, the Buran vehicles had engines located at the back, and two wings for a controlled landing back on Earth.
The Russian model had striking external similarities to the US Space Shuttle Columbia sparking suggestions Cold War espionage may have played a part in its development.
Both US Space Shuttles and Buran had the same shape and size, the same vertical tail structures and even similar colours - white with a black trim.
Documents that emerged in the late 1990s revealed how the KGB stole the designs for the US shuttle in the 1970s and 1980s enabling the Kremlin to build a carbon copy of the American system.
A 1985 CIA report said there was 'espionage by hostile intelligence officers, overt collection, by East Bloc officials, acquisition by scientific exchange program participants and illegal trade-related activity.'
Both shuttles were both developed as part of Moscow's Buran programme which was shut down in 1993 - but neither of the craft were sent to space
The super-strong Energia was a launch vehicle designed to propel the Buran, an unmanned spaceplane, into orbit in the 1970s. The USSR built the rocket to compete with Nasa's Saturn V, the that supported the Apollo mission to the moon
Like Nasa's Space Shuttles, the Buran vehicles had engines located at the back, and two wings for a controlled landing back on Earth. Two test shuttles (pictured) from the programme remain in a rusting hangar in Kazakhstan
Like Nasa's Space Shuttles, the Buran vehicles had engines located at the back, and two wings for a controlled landing back on Earth
Two test shuttles from the programme remain in the rusting hangar in Kazakhstan
Development of the Buran programme began in 1976, with the reusable spacecraft capable of performing operations in orbit before returning to Earth
Files from US databases - much of them unclassified - were raided from the mid-1970s to the early 1980s, according to the CIA analysis, called 'Soviet Acquisition of Militarily Significant Western Technology'.
The report said: 'Documents acquired dealt with airframe designs (including the computer programs on design analysis), materials, flight computer systems, and propulsion systems. This information allowed Soviet military industries to save years of scientific research and testing time as well as millions of rubles as they developed their own very similar space shuttle vehicle.'
Similar claims of espionage were made in the 1960s when Russia's supersonic Tupolev TU-144 passenger jet was unveiled. It closely resembled the British-French Concorde which got off the ground two months later.
Development of the Buran programme began in 1976, with the reusable spacecraft capable of performing operations in orbit before returning to Earth.
But after one unmanned spaceflight of the Orbiter 1K1 in 1988, the scheme was scrapped following the dissolution of the USSR in 1993.
Orbiter 1K1 was crushed and destroyed in the same complex - but in a different hangar - in 2002. The collapse killed eight workers.
The rocket Kaunas was designed by Russia's top space agency, to act as a heavy-lift launch system and booster for the Buran spaceplane. It has been left abandoned in the disused hanger since 1991.
The Energia weighs in at a massive 2,400,000kg (5,300,000 lb) depsite being made of super-light metals.
The super-strong rocket ship could carry 100 tonnes (100,000kg) - the equivalent of 16 African elephants - into orbit. Unusually, the Energy carried its considerable payload on its side, rather than on the top.
The rocket Kaunas was designed by Russia's top space agency, to act as a heavy-lift launch system and booster for the Buran spaceplane. It has been left abandoned in the disused hanger since 1991
The space relic was built during the great space race between the USSR and the US. The heavy-lift vehicle was originally planned for a lunar mission which was later abandoned
The large hangar - once a hub of activity but now left derelict - located near to the Baikonur Cosmodrome, is still used to launch Soyuz rockets today
Kaunas, a film director, was thrilled once he reached the shuttles and spent three nights sleeping inside the abandoned area
The giant hangar that houses the rocket was actually an assembly complex and, measuring 433ft (132 metres) long by 203ft (62 metres) in height, it is the largest building at the Baikonur Cosmodrome. The area is surrounded by desert
The giant hangar that houses the rocket was actually an assembly complex and, measuring 433ft (132 metres) long by 203ft (62 metres) in height, it is the largest building at the Baikonur Cosmodrome.
Huge sliding gates 138 by 118ft (42 by 36 metres) would have allowed the shuttles to have been rolled out to the launchpad nearby.
To protect the shuttles from a possible shockwave if a heavy launch vehicle exploded nearby, the structure was made of reinforced steel.
The room was also intended to be a 'clean room' devoid of dust when working on the orbiters, so the doors leading out of the central area could be sealed.
The hangar is located near to the Baikonur Cosmodrome, which is still used to launch Soyuz rockets today.
