Korolyov, Moscow Oblast
city in Moscow Oblast, Russia
Korolyov or Korolev (Russian: Королёв, IPA: [kərɐˈlʲɵf]) is an industrial city in Moscow Oblast, Russia, well known as the cradle of Soviet and Russian space exploration. As of the 2010 Census, its population was 183,402, the largest as a science city. As of 2018, the population was more than 222,000 people.
It was known as Kaliningrad (Калинингра́д) from 1938 to 1996 and served as the leading Soviet center 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 Soviet 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 center 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 center of control is still in Korolyov, 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.
The public source identifies “Korolyov, Moscow Oblast” as city in Moscow Oblast, Russia. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Korolyov, Moscow and Oblast.
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The strongest evidence will usually combine a dated visual record with documents produced by the authority responsible for the place. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 15, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q155309. Authority coordinates are 55.917, 37.817. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2010, 2018, 1938 and 1996.
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This entry incorporates text from “Korolyov, Moscow Oblast” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.