Balkhash Radar Station is the site of two generations of Soviet and Russian early warning radars. It is located on the west coast of Lake Balkhash near Sary Shagan test site in Kazakhstan. Although it was used for monitoring satellites in low Earth orbit it was mainly a key part of the Russian system of warning against missile attack. It provided coverage of western and central China, India, Pakistan and submarine missile launches in the Bay of Bengal. There have been six radars at this site, the last one was removed from service on 1 June 2020, and it was run by the Russian Space Forces.

The Russian Space Forces are the space force branch of the Russian Aerospace Forces. Having been reestablished following August 1, 2015 merger between the Russian Air Force and the Russian Aerospace Defence Forces after the independent arm of service was dissolved in 2011.