Dombarovsky

Dombarovsky
IATA: none – ICAO: none
Summary
Airport type		Military
Operator		Russian Air Force
Location		Dombarovsky
Elevation AMSL		869 ft / 265 m
Coordinates		50°48′0″N 059°31′0″E / 50.8°N 59.516667°E / 50.8; 59.516667Coordinates: 50°48′0″N 059°31′0″E / 50.8°N 59.516667°E / 50.8; 59.516667
Runways
Direction	Length		Surface
	ft	m
	8,202	2,500	Concrete

Dombarovsky (also given as Dombarovskiy and Tagilom) is an interceptor aircraft base in Orenburg Oblast, Russia located 6 km northwest of the village of Dombarovsky, near Yasny. 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. Its coordinates are different: 50 45 59 N, 59 32 40 E.

The first base commader 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. Imagery of the missile base can be easily obtained by Google Earth, showing the transport network and individual silos northeast towards Lake Zhetykol.

On December 22, 2004, the Rocket Forces conducted from the base a test launch of an R-36M2 to the Kamchatka Peninsula.^[3] Currently it is used by launch service provider ISC Kosmotras for commercial launches of Dnepr rockets.

Dnepr launches

As of October 1, 2008 three spacecraft have been launched from Dombarovskiy using Dnepr-1 rockets.^[4] They are:

• July 12, 2006, Genesis I spacecraft launched for Bigelow Aerospace into a 550 km, 64.5 degree inclination orbit.
• June 28, 2007, Genesis II spacecraft, also launched for Bigelow Aerospace into a near-identical orbit.
• October 1, 2008, THEOS satellite launched for GISTDA.^[4]

Sources and references

1. ^ "Aviatsiya PVO". Aviabaza KPOI. http://airbase.ru/squad/russia/avpvo/. 
2. ^ Dombarovskiy (Yasny) ICBM site
3. ^ "Dombarovskiy". Astronautix.com. 2007-11-17. http://www.astronautix.com/sites/domvskiy.htm. Retrieved 2008-05-15. 
4. ^ ^{a b} "Russia launches Thai satellite on converted missile". RIA Novosti. 2008-10-01. http://en.rian.ru/russia/20081001/117363703.html.