State Central Navy Testing Range


The State Central Navy Testing Range at Nyonoksa is the main rocket launching site of the Soviet Navy and later the Russian Navy. The site is located east from in the settlement of Sopka north of the Nyonoksa.

History

It was established in 1954.
Since 1965 numerous rockets of the types R-27, R-29, R-39 Rif and R-39M were launched from Nyonoksa.

Accidents

On 15 December 2015, an accident during a missile launch test resulted in a block of flats in the village being hit by part of a rocket.
On 8 August 2019 an explosion caused the Nyonoksa radiation accident with several scientists being killed. The incident might be linked to the development of the nuclear-powered cruise missile 9M730 Burevestnik, also known by its NATO reporting name as the SSC-X-9 Skyfall.