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The video below mentions that Soyuz boosters consistently land a certain distance away from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, in deserted areas. What happens to those boosters? I'd sure like to have an interesting chunk of booster...

This article from russianspaceweb.com mentions there used to be recovery, but that has stopped. This thread on the Kerbal Space Program forum says 'rocket part hunters' harvest the scrap and sell it in China. (If so, they are missing a significant hobbyist market opportunity, I think...) Does anyone know more?

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    $\begingroup$ The Jawas drive around in their sand crawlers harvesting the engines and scrap metal. They then sell them to moisture farmers. $\endgroup$ Commented Jan 31, 2015 at 23:43
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    $\begingroup$ Those boosters land in the Altai region of Russia, which is to the northeast of Kazakhstan - not in Kazakhstan itself. $\endgroup$ Commented May 19, 2019 at 0:48
  • $\begingroup$ I really wonder whether there are ever any surviving interesting bits. $\endgroup$ Commented Apr 12, 2020 at 22:40

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Local scrap metal dealers collect and recycle them. See this link for some more information.

eurasianet.org 1 eurasianet.org 2 eurasianet.org 3

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    $\begingroup$ The middle one landed awfully near to houses. Can you get an app to tell you when not you use those walking tracks? $\endgroup$ Commented Feb 14, 2015 at 13:08
  • $\begingroup$ @SeleneRoutley Bold of you to assume that farmer has a phone :) $\endgroup$ Commented Nov 18, 2024 at 8:28

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