50 years ago, March 17, 1966 the first space launch was carried out from Plesetsk cosmodrome. Russia's Plesetsk spaceport is the northernmost cosmodrome in the world. It is located in Mirny, Arkhangelsk Oblast, about 800 km north of Moscow and approximately 200 km south of Arkhangelsk. Plesetsk is used especially for military satellites placed into high inclination and polar orbits since the range for falling debris is clear to the north which is largely uninhabited Arctic and polar terrain.