Korolyov, Moscow Oblast, Central Federal District, Russia

🇷🇺 Korolyov or Korolev (Королёв) is an industrial city in Moscow Oblast, Russia, well known as the cradle of Soviet and Russian space exploration. Its population the largest as a science city.

It was known as Kaliningrad (Калинингра́д) from 1938 to 1996 and served as the leading Soviet centre for production of anti-tank and air-defense guns. In 1946, in the aftermath of World War II, the artillery plant was reconstructed for production of rockets, launch vehicles, and spacecraft, under the guidance of Russian scientist and academician Sergei Korolev, who envisioned, consolidated and guided the activities of many people in the Soviet space-exploration program. The plant later became known as the RKK Energia; when the Vostok space vehicle was being developed, this research centre was designated as NII-88 or POB 989.

Russian Mission Control Center is also located in Korolyov. Though the real control is decentralized due to security reasons and all space aircraft may be controlled from many different locations across Russia, the historic centre of control is still in Korolev, and is called FCC – Flights Control Center.

In July 1996, the city was renamed in commemoration of Sergei Korolev, the father of the Soviet/Russian space program, who died in 1966. Since 1997, Korolyov has hosted the International Space Olympics, an annual competition for young people to promote space related research.

History In the 12th century, a Slavic settlement was located on the site of modern Korolyov. The settlement stood on a junction of trade routes between the Moscow and Vladimir-Suzdal principalities. After the Mongol conquests in the 13th century, the region was in decline.

The village of Podlipki had formed on the site by the 18th century, when one of the first textile factories in Russia was established there.

From the late 19 century, Podlipki was also known as a dacha village frequented by many literali, as can be witnessed by the name of Podlipki-Dachnye railway station. They later moved their dachas to Peredelkino in Moscow's south-eastern suburb, when Podlipki became a closed city of the Russian SFSR.

In 1924, the first OGPU working commune in the Soviet Union was established at Podlipki. In 1938, the Kalininsky settlement near an artillery plant (which had previously been relocated from Leningrad to better protect it in case of any future war) was granted town status and named Kaliningrad (meaning Kalinin City, after Bolshevik leader Mikhail Kalinin; not to be confused with the Baltic port city also renamed Kaliningrad after Mikhail Kalinin in 1946). Over the next three decades the town expanded greatly as a home of rocket manufacturing for both military missiles and the Soviet space program. As such it was a closed city to foreigners, who could not travel there.

Administrative and municipal status Within the framework of administrative divisions, it is incorporated as Korolyov City Under Oblast Jurisdiction—an administrative unit with the status equal to that of the districts. As a municipal division, Korolyov City Under Oblast Jurisdiction is incorporated as Korolyov Urban Okrug.

In June 2014, Yubileyny, Moscow Oblast Town Under Oblast Jurisdiction was merged into Korolyov City Under Oblast Jurisdiction and on the municipal side, Yubileyny Urban Okrug was merged into Korolyov Urban Okrug. The town of Yubileyny ceased to exist as an independent entity.

Economy The main enterprise of the city is the RKK Energia, but there are several kinds of industry in the city. This naukograd (science city) is the place in which the first Youth Residential Complex in the Soviet Union was built. Another notable company located in the city is OAO Kompozit, which is engaged in the field of materials science.

Today the city is prosperous overall. But in the Soviet-era economy, the city typified the wide contrasts and ironic juxtapositions that arose as some aspects of life were heavily funded by the government while others remained chronically underfunded. Yuri Krotkov described in his 1967 memoir how, at the same time that advanced technology was being built for space rockets, the textile plants of old Podlipki went on for decades with nearly no improvement on their 1920s equipment, and starkly impoverished workers in various hard and glamourless jobs of prerevolutionary days crossed paths, sometimes resentfully, with the skilled technicians and scientists, who were substantially better paid despite the slogans of Soviet ideology around the equal dignity of manual labourers.

Sports The bandy club Vympel has played in the Russian Bandy Supreme League, which is the second-highest division. Their home arena has a capacity of 10 000. A plan existed to equip the stadium with artificial ice, but the project has been abandoned. Although an indoor ice hockey-sized arena entered the plans instead, the official reason given was financial problems. Now Vympel only plays in the amateur league of Moscow Oblast. In 2014 a bandy federation for the city was founded.