Rocket launchpad, Baikonur cosmodrome, Kazakhstan. This facility is used by the Russian Federal Space Agency for space launches. It was founded in June 1955 by the former Soviet Union. Many historically important space missions were launched from Baikonur, including Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite (1957), the first man, Yuri Gagarin (1961), and the first woman, Valentina Tereshkova (1963). In 2006, it is mainly used to launch missions to support the International Space Station (ISS).