Dombarovsky (air base)

Dombarovsky
IATA: none – ICAO: none
Summary
Airport type	Military
Operator	Russian Air Force
Location	Dombarovsky
Elevation AMSL	869 ft / 265 m
Coordinates	51°05′38″N 59°50′32″E / 51.09389°N 59.84222°ECoordinates: 51°05′38″N 59°50′32″E / 51.09389°N 59.84222°E
Runways
Direction Length Surface ft m 8,202 2,500 Concrete

Dombarovsky (also given as Dombarovskiy and Tagilom) is a military airbase 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) northwest of the village of Dombarovsky, near Yasny in Russia's Orenburg Oblast. Operated by the Soviet Air Forces and later by the Russian Air Force, it hosts fighter interceptor squadrons and an ICBM base (which has been adapted for commercial satellite launches).

Interceptor base

The facility featured three revetment compounds.

Units stationed at Dombarovsky include:

• 412 IAP (412th Interceptor Aviation Regiment) flying Su-9 aircraft in the early 1970s and MiG-23M aircraft in the late 1970s. The 412 IAP disbanded in 1993.
• 763 IAP (763rd Interceptor Aviation Regiment) flying MiG-23 aircraft in 1991.^[1] There is uncertainty about this regiment.

ICBM base

Dombarovsky is also the home of the 13th Dombarovsky Red Banner Division, 31st Missile Army of the Strategic Rocket Forces. The base was built during the mid-60s along with the majority of the Soviet ICBM bases.

The first base commander was Major-General Dmitri Chaplygin.^[2] Up to 10 units of Strategic Rocket Forces were based in the area, covering anywhere from 6 to 10 operational silos. At the peak of operations, Dombarovsky maintained a total of 64 silos on full alert. By 2002, according to the Russian press, the number had dropped to 52. The missiles deployed in the region were primarily the RS-20 type and its sub-variants.

On December 22, 2004, the Rocket Forces conducted from the base a test launch of an R-36M2 to the Kamchatka Peninsula.^[3]

Commercial launches

With the conversion of the R-36M ICBM for use as a satellite launch vehicle, the Dnepr-1 system, Dombarovsky has launched a number of commercial payloads. These civilian launches are operated by the Russian Air Force on behalf of the launcher's operator, Russian/Ukrainian consortium Kosmotras. Kosmotras calls the facility Yasny launch base, and has constructed additional facilities necessary for commercial satellite launch operations, including clean room integration facilities.^[4]

Launch	Date (UTC)	Vehicle	Payload	Launch pad	Result	Remarks
1	July 12, 2006	Dnepr-1	Genesis I	Dombarovsky	Success	Bigelow Aerospace payload, in a 550 km, 64.5 degree inclination orbit
2	June 28, 2007	Dnepr-1	Genesis II	Dombarovsky	Success	Bigelow Aerospace payload, orbit nearly identical to Genesis I
3	October 1, 2008	Dnepr-1	THEOS	Dombarovsky	Success	launched for GISTDA[5]
4	June 15, 2010	Dnepr-1	Prisma, Picard, BPA-1	Dombarovsky	Success	[6]
5	August 17, 2011	Dnepr-1	Sich-2, NigeriaSat-2, NX, RASAT, EduSAT, AprizeSat-5, AprizeSat-6, BPA-2	Dombarovsky	Success	[7]
6	November 21, 2013	Dnepr-1	STSAT-3, DubaiSat-2, SkySat 1, PUCP-SAT 1, Pocket PUCP, etc.	Dombarovsky	Success	32 satellites, most of them cubesats[8]

References

1. "Aviatsiya PVO". Aviabaza KPOI.
2. Dombarovskiy (Yasny) ICBM site
3. "Dombarovskiy". Astronautix.com. 2007-11-17. Retrieved 2008-05-15.
4. "Yasny launch base". Kosmotras website.
5. "Russia launches Thai satellite on converted missile". RIA Novosti. 2008-10-01.
6. Stephen Clark (15 June 2010). "French Sun Satellite and Swedish Experiment Blast Off on Russian Rocket". Spaceflight Now (Space.com). Retrieved 22 November 2013.
7. "RASAT takes off into space". Anatolia News Agency. 17 August 2011.
8. Stephen Clark (November 21, 2013). "Silo-launched Dnepr rocket delivers 32 satellites to space". Spaceflight Now. Retrieved 22 November 2013.