baikonur cosmodrome (; ) is a spaceport in southern kazakhstan. it is the first and most active space port in the world. it is leased to russia until 2050, and is managed by roskosmos and the russian aerospace forces. it was originally built by the soviet union in the late 1950s. there are many commercial, military and scientific rocket launches each year all crewed russian spaceflights are launched from baikonur.