Russia has inaugurated its newest space launch site, the Vostochny (Eastern) Cosmodrome. It is located at a latitude of 51 degrees North in the Amur Oblast, Russia's far east territory. Although the complex is not yet complete, it became operational last Thursday with the launch of a Soyuz-2. The remaining construction was originally to be completed in 2018.

The primary purpose of this new spaceport is to reduce Russia's dependency on the famous Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Vladimir Putin authorized the project in 2010, claiming, "The creation of a new space center ... is one of modern Russia's biggest and most ambitious projects".

In fact, the announced completion by 2018 is somewhat in doubt, due to the current recession imposed by low oil prices and international sanctions. In the spring of last year more than 100 construction workers went on strike to protest unpaid wages.

The location was selected to insure launches would take place on Russian territory and lower rocket stages would fall into the Pacific Ocean. The actual site is less than 800 km from the ocean and is 551.5 km2 in size. The nearest city is Tsiolkovsky, a famous name in Russian rocketry.

The site latitude of 51 degrees North was selected such that existing launch vehicles in the Russian inventory will be able to carry almost the same payload masses that they can when launched from Baikonur, which is at 46 degrees North.

The apparent discrepancy is due to the fact that launches from Baikonur cannot ascend in the due east direction, but must launch to northeast. This constraint results in the equivalent launch performance of a due east launch at 51 degrees North.

It will be interesting to watch as this complex approaches completeness and adds other operational launch vehicles to the list at Vostochny.