Terra-3

45°50′52.8″N 73°31′04.8″E / 45.848000°N 73.518000°E / 45.848000; 73.518000 Terra-3 (Russian: терра–3) was a Soviet laser testing centre, located on the Sary Shagan anti-ballistic missile (ABM) testing range in the Karaganda Region of Kazakhstan. It was originally built to test missile defence concepts, but these attempts were dropped after the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty was signed. The site later hosted two modest devices used primarily for experiments in space tracking. Several other laser test sites were also active during this period. During the 1980s, officials within the United States Department of Defense (DoD) suggested it was the site of a prototypical anti-satellite weapon system. The site was abandoned and is now partially disassembled. Development of laser weapons in the Soviet Union began in 1964–1965. Among many proposals for laser weapons was an explosively pumped gas dynamic laser. Construction, consisting of a large concrete bunker lined with steel plates, was begun at Sary Shagan, but the facility was far from complete when the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty was signed in 1972, and these efforts ended. The buildings were then re-purposed for more modest laser systems.