Vostochny is in the Svobodny and Shimanovsk districts of Amur Oblast in the Russian Far East, on the watershed of the Zeya and Bolshaya Pyora rivers,[1] approximately 600–800 km (370–500 mi) from the Pacific Ocean, depending on launch azimuth.

Other positives include the ability to use sparsely populated areas and bodies of water for the rocket launch routes; proximity to major transportation networks such as the Baikal–Amur Mainline and the Chita–Khabarovsk Highway; abundant local electricity production (for the hydrogen rocket fuel electrolysis and liquefaction); and the infrastructure supporting the former Svobodny Cosmodrome, the local prototype.

Russian president Vladimir Putin confirmed that other places proffered were on the shore of the Pacific, near Vladivostok, which experts have disfavoured for their oceanic climate, liable to cause delays in date-sensitive launches.

[7] A month later the head of Spetstroy, Grigory Naginsky, told the press that the first blueprints for the centre went through the project expertise and the first contract worth 1.6 billion roubles was signed with Roscosmos, covering construction of a railway line and a road.

[10] In June 2015, the installation of support equipment and assembly of the first floor of the command post of the Vostochny Cosmodrome was handed over to specialists from the Centre for Operation of Space Ground-Based Infrastructure (TsENKI).

[12] A spokesperson for a Russian government space infrastructure agency reported that "work with the rocket at the integration and testing complex now can not be conducted because the facility is not ready", and added that "there are still imperfections in the construction".

[15] On 13 September 2023, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Russian president Putin held a bi-lateral summit at the cosmodrome.

[20] Russian engineers looked to apply knowledge gained from building the Soyuz launch facilities in Kourou spaceport and the Angara pad at Naro Space Center in South Korea.

[21] In January 2012, a Russian Government Decree signed by Prime Minister Medvedev transferred 9,663 hectares (23,880 acres) of forest lands in the Amur Oblast for construction of the spaceport from Shimanovsky and Svobodensky districts.

[22] On 2 March 2012, Deputy Prosecutor General Yuri Gulyagin said at a meeting with the Presidential representative in the Far Eastern Federal District Viktor Ishayev that timely payment of wages, as well as registration of vehicles and people involved in the construction of the cosmodrome, will soon be the focus of regulatory authorities.

[23] In April 2013, Minister of Far Eastern Development Viktor Ishayev said that 2014 will be the busiest year in the construction period and the number of workers will rise to 7,000.

[26] In December 2013, specialists chose sites for Angara facilities at the cosmodrome and transported the mockup of a launch vehicle from Moscow-based Khrunichev Space Center to the spaceport.

[27] In March 2014, Russia's federal network grid operator FGC UES completed the first phase of power supply to the cosmodrome.

[29] In July 2015, reconstruction of the Ledyanaya railway station was completed; it includes a garage, service and domestic building and treatment facilities, 20 new turnouts and communications systems.

In the shortest possible time, an extension was built to the post of electric interlocking and high loading platform, in addition to the construction of railway stations Promishlennaya-1 (Russian: Промышленная-1) and Promishlennaya-2.

[32] On 23 January 2019, Roscosmos cancelled the agreement with the troubled PSO Kazan company to build the launch pad for the Angara rocket in Vostochny.

The mission was declared a failure after telemetry was lost and the rocket re-entered the atmosphere due to the Fregat upper stage being programmed for a launch from Baikonur rather than the new Vostochny Cosmodrome.

[42] As of 2011, Roscosmos planned to move 45% of Russia's space launches to Vostochny by 2020, while the share from Baikonur was expected to drop from 65% to 11%, and Plesetsk to account for 44%.

The Russian government has a strategic policy to bring high-tech companies into the Far East region, and several enterprises involved in human space flight are expected to move their activities there when the new cosmodrome is completed.

[5] Architect Dmitry Pshenichnikov has stated that the city is to become a "one-of-its-kind scientific and tourist space town with a unique design and a beautiful landscape".

According to Russian prosecutors, at least US$165 million was embezzled during the construction process (critics claim that these numbers are severely downplayed), and in 2015, 350 workers painted giant messages on their barracks, asking Vladimir Putin to help after long payment delays.