he one of the many problems the Russian government has faced with the collapse of the Soviet Union was the access to space launch facilities. Baikonur Cosmodrome, the largest Soviet space center, was now in the newly-independent Kazakhstan. Following food riots, power failures, and threats to shut the facility down, Russia decided that it should move its launch facilities into Russia itself where such problems could be minimized. The most logical facility to move into was the Plesetsk Cosmodrome - the busiest space port in the world. The Plesetsk cosmodrome was located in Russia, had excellent facilities, and came equipped with all the infrastructure necessary to support an aggressive launch schedule. Unfortunately, Plesetsk was located in the far north making it imposable to launch satellites into anything other than high inclination orbits. This restricts a launchers payload capacity by nearly 25% and puts may desirable orbits, including the ones used by ISS and "Mir", out of reach. Also, Plesetsk has never had the launch pads for the heavy "Protron" launcher, the backbone of Russian space commerce. So the Russians gave up on Plesetsk and began to look elsewhere for there new launch facility. The next logical choice was Kapustin Yar - a Soviet era missile range and a space port for small launchers. This site was also eliminated because eastern launches could not be accommodated without  flying over Kazakhstan which meant that the Russians would need to get permission from the Kazak government before every launch - the very situation that the Russians were trying to get themselves out of.  Given unclear political and economic status of Baikonur, and technical limitations of Plesetsk and Kapustin Yar, Russian authorities found it necessary to consider a backup site guaranteeing the nation's access to space in the future. In 1993, three potential sites have emerged, all in the Russian Far East, the only region which could offer comparable latitude to Baikonur's southern location. Eventually, coastal Sovetskaya Gavan and the town of Khorol, some 150 km from Vladivostok were dropped in favor of Svobodny-18, the former strategic missile base located 120 km north of Blagoveshensk and closed down after an agreement on the Strategic Arms Limitations Treaty START-2. The base was originally built in 1968 and shut down in late 1993. The residential area of the base reportedly provided housing to 5,000 people. Although the division of the Strategic Rocket Forces stationed in Svobodny 18 has been disbanded, the town still had a population of 6,000 and all basic infrastructure for its new role. Five or six existing launch silos could reportedly be easily modified for the "Rokot" launch-vehicle based on UR-100 ballistic missile. When these plans have become known, few have taken them seriously. Collapsing state economy left little chance to finance such a project. Many observers saw the idea as a ploy at the bargaining table with Kazakhstan. On November 30, 1993, the Ministry of Defense officially formed "Main Center for Testing and Application of Space Assets" in place of deactivated base at Svobodny. The plans called for the restoration of as many as five launch silos for UR-100-type missiles, which could be used for "Rockot" and "Strela" launchers. Both space boosters derive from the UR-100NU ICBM, previously deployed at the base in Svobodny. Finally, on March 6, 1996, President Boris Yeltsin signed a document declaring Svobodny a "Cosmodrome." Over the last several years, the Svobodny ICBM facility has been restored but beyond that not much has happened. Several commercial launches  involving the "Start-1" ( a converted "Topol" ICBM) booster were conducted and launches are planned for both the "Rokot" and "Strela" launchers but given the bleak financial situation, it is doubtful that large scale expansion will occur any time soon.. Even with full funding, it is estimated that the project would require 10 - 15 years to complete. The Russian Space Agency Rosaviacosmos has gone on record as being opposed to the project stating that the money would be better spent restoring existing facilities while the Russian military continues to push the idea. The climate of Svobodny cosmodrome is continental. The absolute temperature minimum reaches -50⁰C. The warmest month is July; monthly average temperature of air is +19-21⁰C. The absolute temperature maximum reaches +37-38⁰C. Rainfall per annum is 400-800 mm.