Galaktion Alpaidze

Galaktion Yeliseyevich Alpaidze
Galaktion Yeliseyevich Alpaidze
	Lieutenant General
Commands held	36th Artillery Regiment (53rd Infantry Division, 7th Guard Army); 972nd Artillery Regiment (113th Infantry Division, 57th Army, Ukrainian Front); Artillery Infantry Division (Stalingrad); North Caucasus Military District (head of training ground and anti aircraft artillery); 4th Artillery Division (1957–1959); Head of ballistic missile research; Head of Plesetsk Cosmodrome (1963–1975);
Battles/wars	World War II Battle of Moscow; Battle of the Dnieper; Battle of Romania; Battle of Debrecen; Vienna Offensive;
Awards	Hero of the Soviet Union; USSR State Prize
Other work	Deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union (1946–1950); Director and supervisor of the Plesetsk Cosmodrome (1963–1975); Deputy Director, Moscow Institute of Thermal Technology (1975–1992);

Galaktion Yeliseyevich Alpaidze (Georgian: გალაქტიონ ალფაიძე, Russian: Галактио́н Елисе́евич Алпаи́дзе; 7 November 1916 [O.S. 25 October] – 2 May 2006) was a Russian military officer of Georgian ethnicity in the former Soviet Army whose career saw military actions in the eastern front of the World War II.

Besides his career in the army, Alpaidze was a program manager in the former Soviet space program and was a director of the Plesetsk Cosmosdrome from 1963–1975 and was a recipient of the Hero of the Soviet Union, and 1977 laureate of the USSR State Prize.

Early life

Alpaidze was born on 7 November 1916 to

peasants and raised in the settlement of Kursebi in Georgia (then part of the Russian Empire). He finished a seven-year educational curriculum and graduated from the Kutaisi Industrial College in 1937, primarily studying heat and energy development technology. For two years he worked as an electrician in a hydroelectric power plant before entering Red Army service in 1938. In 1940 Alpaidze graduated from the Tbilisi School of Artillery.^[1]^[2]

Great Patriotic War

At the outbreak of war in June 1941, as a

Balaton Offensive when his newly assigned 972nd Artillery Regiment destroyed a number of German tanks and around 30 firing points, while at the same time suppressing six enemy artillery batteries. On 11 March, on a single day, he got wounded a total of three times but still managed to coordinate and control the fire of his units. For courage and heroism in battle, Alpaidze was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union as well as the Order of Lenin on 28 April 1945.^[1]^[2]

Cold War

After World War II, Galaktion Yeliseyevich Alpaidze continued service in the Southern Group of Soviet Forces, later applying to the

Lieutenant General Alpaidze would personally supervise about 700 launches of missiles and spacecraft as head of the State Scientific Research Center until his retirement in 1975.^[1]^[2]^[3]