Russia's main crewed launch site, Baikonur, lies outside Russia

Background

This standing fact sits behind the Progress 96 cargo flight that was to dock at the Poisk module. Russia's principal launch site for crew and cargo, the Baikonur Cosmodrome, is in Kazakhstan, not in Russia; Russia leases it. Baikonur local time runs nine hours ahead of United States Eastern Daylight Time, which is why a lift-off at 9:33 a.m. EDT was 6:33 p.m. at the pad. Russia's workhorse launcher is the Soyuz rocket family, used for both crewed Soyuz spacecraft and uncrewed Progress cargo ships. Russia also launches from Vostochny inside its own territory. On the International Space Station, Poisk is one of the modules of the Russian segment, and Russia's space activities are run by the state corporation Roscosmos.