Rocket Engineer Remembrance Day is observed in Baikonur, Kazakhstan, on every October 24. This unofficial memorial day honors the victims of the Nedelin catastrophe, which occurred on October 24, 1960, when a test launch of the R-16 intercontinental ballistic missile resulted in an explosion that killed 74 people, including Chief Marshal Mitrofan Nedelin. The event was shrouded in secrecy by Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev, but a memorial was later erected in Baikonur. Each year, officials from Roscosmos, the Russian space agency, lay wreaths at this monument to commemorate all victims of rocket explosions and missile incidents. The Soviet Union officially acknowledged the tragedy in 1989 during Perestroika, marking a significant moment in its history.