Site 41, also known as Lesobaza and SK-1, was a launch complex at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome

Plesetsk Cosmodrome

Plesetsk Cosmodrome is a Russian spaceport, located in Arkhangelsk Oblast, about 800 km north of Moscow and approximately 200 km south of Arkhangelsk.-Overview:...

 in Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

. It consisted of a single pad, Site 41/1, and was used by R-7 derived rockets between 1959 and 1989.

Site 41 was originally built for use by R-7A Semyorka

R-7A Semyorka

The R-7A Semyorka, GRAU index 8K74, was an early Soviet intercontinental ballistic missile derived from the earlier R-7 Semyorka. It was the only member of the R-7 family of rockets to be deployed as an operational missile. The R-7A first flew on 23 December 1959, entered service on 31 December of...

 missiles. During the Cuban Missile Crisis

Cuban Missile Crisis

The Cuban Missile Crisis was a confrontation among the Soviet Union, Cuba and the United States in October 1962, during the Cold War...

, an armed missile was placed on Site 41. It would have had a response time of 8-12 hours should an order have been given to launch it. No launches were conducted from Site 41 whilst it was operational.

In 1963, the complex was converted for use by carrier rockets

Launch vehicle

In spaceflight, a launch vehicle or carrier rocket is a rocket used to carry a payload from the Earth's surface into outer space. A launch system includes the launch vehicle, the launch pad and other infrastructure....

. The first launch from the complex was a suborbital

Sub-orbital spaceflight

A sub-orbital space flight is a spaceflight in which the spacecraft reaches space, but its trajectory intersects the atmosphere or surface of the gravitating body from which it was launched, so that it does not complete one orbital revolution....

 test of an R-7A Semyorka missile, on 14 December 1965. The first orbital launch from the complex occurred on 17 March 1966, when a Vostok-2

Vostok-2 (rocket)

The Vostok-2 , GRAU index 8A92 was an expendable carrier rocket used by the Soviet Union between 1962 and 1967. Forty five were launched, of which five failed. It was derived from the earlier Vostok-K, with uprated engines. It was a member of the R-7 family of rockets.The Vostok-2 made its maiden...

 rocket launched Kosmos 112. In total, 308 orbital and two suborbital launches were conducted from the complex, using R-7A, Vostok-2, Vostok-2M

Vostok-2M

The Vostok-2M , GRAU index 8A92M was an expendable carrier rocket used by the Soviet Union between 1964 and 1991. Ninety-three were launched, of which one failed. Another was destroyed before launch. It was originally built as a specialised version of the earlier Vostok-2, for injecting lighter...

, Voskhod and Soyuz-U

Soyuz-U

The Soyuz-U launch vehicle is an improved version of the original Soyuz LV. Soyuz-U is part of the R-7 family of rockets based on the R-7 Semyorka missile. Members of this rocket family were designed by the TsSKB design bureau and constructed at the Progress Factory in Samara, Russia....

 rockets. The last launch to use the complex was of a Soyuz-U with Bion 9

Bion 9

Bion 9 was a biomedical research mission involving nine countries and ESA. It was part of the Bion program. Eighty experiments were conducted in such categories as motion sickness, reproduction and regeneration, immunology, and readaption to a normal gravity environment. A number of different...

on 15 September 1989. Since this launch, the pad has been disassembled.