Kura Test Range
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Kura Test Range (also known as Klyuchi Test Range) is an intercontinental ballistic missile impact area used by Russia, located in northern Kamchatka Oblast. It is 130 kilometers (80.8 mi) northeast of the settlement of Klyuchi. The center coordinates are [1]. This area is not only in an isolated part of Kamchatka but is surrounded by the Okhotsk Sea and Pacific Ocean.
The range was developed beginning in 1955 and was operational in 1957 [2] [1]. It continues to be active. One of the most recent impacts was in November 2006 when an SS-19 missile was test-fired from Baikonur Cosmodrome.
The United States maintained a permanent Eareckson Air Station (formerly Shemya Air Force Base) only 935 km (580 miles) away, equipped with radars and aircraft to monitor impacts at Kura. One of these radars, Cobra Dane, was fielded in 1977 at Shemya specifically for this purpose.
