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The launch tower of the cosmodrome under a purple Dark Aether sky, walkways and buildings below, official menu background, Zarya Cosmodrome, Call of Duty Black Ops 7 Zombies

Zarya Cosmodrome

Zarya Cosmodrome, the Soviet launch site of Black Ops 7 Zombies in Survival: its ground-level First Room and its doors, the ZFRR rules, Project Thunder and Yuri Zavoyski, the enemies, Der Wunderfizz, the weapons and the milestones.

  • 8 min de lectura
  • 10 capítulos
  • actualizado

The First Room

The rail corridor where a game starts: tracks running between low buildings toward a radar dish, water tanks and a snowy yard under the night sky of the Dark Aether, Zarya Cosmodrome, Call of Duty Black Ops 7 Zombies

Zarya Cosmodrome has no real starting room: on ZFRR its First Room is the whole ground level of the launch site that a team can walk doors closed. A game starts on the rail tracks that cross the launch site, in a corridor between low buildings, radar dishes and water tanks; the tracks lead to the launch tower, where the rocket still stands in its gantry, and to the round pit of the rocket silo. Around them run concrete platforms, railings and walkways, under the purple sky of the Dark Aether. Like on every map of Black Ops 7, each player starts with a weapon of their own loadout, so the run does not depend on a wall weapon.

The doors lead to the rest of the cosmodrome. Guides speak of opening “the doors” to reach Support Systems, on the sub-level under the rocket, where the DS20 Mirage hangs for 1,650 Essence; no written source gives the price of each door, nor draws the exact limit of the area. Records show the run in the open space around the rails and the silo; players call the central section the best place to train, and Flapix points to the platforms by the spawn as the spot for high rounds.

Mystery Box

On the ground level: the record of soggy_beef3 uses it from round 4, doors closed. In Survival it holds the Ray Gun, the Ray Gun Mark II and the Necrofluid Gauntlet from the start.

Rampage Inducer

By the spawn, according to Flapix’s discovery of the map; in the record of 191k, “Rampage Inducer activated” shows on screen within the first minute. It makes the zombies faster and more aggressive.

T.E.D.D. Tasks

The tasks of T.E.D.D. come up during the game, with a reward at the end of each one. Season 1 Reloaded made them less frequent in Survival.

Perks

Der Wunderfizz, the only perk machine of the Survival map, stands in the Flame Trench, under the rocket. No written source says whether it can be reached doors closed: one record is titled “No Perks”, while others show a row of perks in the HUD.

Exfil

Offered from the end of round 10, then every five rounds, according to the loading screen.

Enemies

Zombies, then Armored and Heavy Zombies and Ravagers. Zursa, the zombified bears, come out of a portal from round 16, and a Zursa is the target of the exfil challenge. Flapix noticed no other special zombie on the map, but many Zursa.

The Zarya Cosmodrome leaderboard keeps two categories, each with boards for solo and for two, three and four players. No GobbleGums is the reference; With GobbleGums counts in the player ratings with a lower difficulty. How a round of Black Ops 7 compares with a round of the older games is explained in Black Ops 7: Rounds. The rules:

Doors closed

Reach the highest round you can without opening doors, and play every round in full.

No GobbleGums

No gum is used, neither from the pack nor from the machine, and none is broken down for Essence. Keeping the three Whimsical gums in the pack is recommended: one used by mistake does not void the run.

With GobbleGums

On that board gums are allowed, and so is breaking them for points; a gum that has run out of time is not.

No glitch

Glitches and exploits are not allowed, and neither is saving and quitting or crashing the game to void a down, a Dying Wish or a game over.

Latest patch

Every game is played on the most recent patch. The game is still updated, and a patch that changes its balance can lead to a board being reset.

Video

The whole game must be recorded, with every player’s point of view in co-op on the No GobbleGums board. A Twitch video must be saved as a highlight, since past broadcasts are not accepted; a YouTube video must be public or unlisted.

Overview

Zarya Cosmodrome is a Survival map of Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 Zombies: the Soviet launch site of Ashes of the Damned, cut out of the big map and played on its own, with no quest, for as many rounds as a team can hold. It came out for free on January 8, 2026, with the Season 1 Reloaded update, after Vandorn Farm and Exit 115, and joined Cursed Survival with Season 2, on February 5, 2026. Its description in the game promises a launch site overrun by the forces of darkness, and a choice between failure to launch and glory for the Motherland.

ModeSurvival, and Cursed Survival since Season 2
Map packFree map, Season 1 Reloaded update
ReleaseJanuary 8, 2026 (PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PC)
LocationZarya Cosmodrome, in the Dark AetherBuilt in 1960, taken in 1968
Based onA location of Ashes of the Damned; the multiplayer map Launch
CharactersThe crew of eight, or the Operators
Players1 to 4

Before it fell into the Dark Aether, the cosmodrome was home to Project Thunder, the launch of a rocket into space led by Anton Gersh with the help of Yuri Zavoyski. In 1968 Yuri found an old leather diary in the research stores, and the voice of the Warden spoke to him through it, convincing him that he lived in Gersh’s shadow. On the day of the launch, Yuri sabotaged the rocket, and the whole facility, the rocket and its people were pulled into the Dark Aether. When the crew of eight arrives, no one is left alive; only the souls bound to the rocket remain, freed when the crew finally launches it in Ashes of the Damned.

The launch tower of the cosmodrome under a purple Dark Aether sky, walkways and buildings below, official menu background, Zarya Cosmodrome, Call of Duty Black Ops 7 Zombies

The launch tower

The rocket stands in its gantry at the heart of the map, under the swirling sky of the Dark Aether.

The rocket gantry with a fire burning at its base, a radar dish and antennas on the roofs of the cosmodrome, official developer image, Zarya Cosmodrome, Call of Duty Black Ops 7 Zombies

The launch site

Radar dishes, antennas and low concrete buildings around the gantry, with a fire burning at its base.

Launch

The map is inspired by Launch, the multiplayer map of the first Black Ops set at a Soviet cosmodrome.

Characters

The players are the eight members of the crew of Black Ops 7: Weaver, Grey, Carver and Maya, with the Dark Aether versions of Dempsey, Nikolai, Takeo and Richtofen, or Operators chosen in the loadout. In Ashes of the Damned, Nikolai recognises the place: the rumours that the Zarya Cosmodrome had vanished were true.

Y

Yuri Zavoyski

The Soviet scientist who sabotaged the launch under the Warden’s influence. His laboratory still stands at the cosmodrome.

A

Anton Gersh

The head of Project Thunder, in whose shadow Yuri believed he lived.

T

The Warden

The enemy of the saga, who spoke to Yuri through an old leather diary.

Enemies

Zombies

The horde of every round, faster and more aggressive once the Rampage Inducer is on.

Armored and Heavy Zombies

Zombies in body armor, which has to be shot off before they fall.

Ravagers

Fast creatures that hunt in packs, as everywhere in Ashes of the Damned.

Zursa

Zombified bears that come through a Dark Aether portal from round 16; the Zursa Minor charm of round 25 is a small one.

Perks

The Survival map has no perk machine of its own: every perk is sold by Der Wunderfizz, which is there from the start of the game, in a corner of the Flame Trench next to a broken wiring panel, where PhD Flopper stands in Ashes of the Damned. It offers Juggernog, Quick Revive, Speed Cola, Stamin-Up, Deadshot Daiquiri, Elemental Pop, PhD Flopper, Melee Macchiato, Vulture Aid, Death Perception, Double Tap Root Beer, Wisp Tea, Mule Kick and, since Season 5 Reloaded, Widow’s Wine.

Weapons

Three weapons hang on the walls, all at Uncommon rarity: the M15 Mod 0 for 1,550 Essence, the DS20 Mirage for 1,650 in Support Systems and the XR-3 Ion for 1,750. The Mystery Box adds the rest of the arsenal of the game, the Ray Gun, the Ray Gun Mark II and the Necrofluid Gauntlet.

M15 Mod 0

An assault rifle, 1,550 Essence on the wall.

DS20 Mirage

An assault rifle, 1,650 Essence in Support Systems, on the sub-level.

XR-3 Ion

A sniper rifle, 1,750 Essence on the wall.

Every wall weapon and the whole Mystery Box

The cosmodrome

The official minimaps show two levels: the main area, laid out around the launch pad and the round silo of the rocket, and a smaller sub-level beneath it. The power is on from the start, and there is no trap on the map. Every utility of Ashes of the Damned is there: the Mystery Box, the Pack-a-Punch, the Arsenal, the Crafting Table, the Ammo Cache, the armor on the wall, the GobbleGum Machine, the exfil phone booth and Chompy, the garbage can that turns weapons into Salvage, always awake in Survival. According to Flapix, the Box, the Arsenal and the Crafting Table keep their places of Ashes of the Damned, Der Wunderfizz takes the place of PhD Flopper and the Pack-a-Punch moves into Yuri’s Lab.

Official minimap of the main area: the launch pad and the round silo of the rocket among buildings and walkways, Zarya Cosmodrome, Call of Duty Black Ops 7 Zombies

The main area

The ground level around the launch pad, with the round silo of the rocket on one side.

Official minimap of the sub-level: a few rooms and corridors beneath the rocket, Zarya Cosmodrome, Call of Duty Black Ops 7 Zombies

The sub-level

The rooms beneath the rocket, with Support Systems and the Flame Trench.

Klaus

Since Season 2 Reloaded, the robot of the Dark Aether Saga can be called on the Survival maps of Ashes of the Damned, Zarya Cosmodrome among them.

The Jump Pad

The cosmodrome keeps a Jump Pad, inactive in Survival.

Easter egg

Like every Survival map, Zarya Cosmodrome has no quest and no main Easter egg. Its story is told in Ashes of the Damned, where the crew brews a serum in Yuri’s Lab and finally launches the rocket, freeing the souls bound to it.

Challenges

The map has no achievement or trophy. Its rewards come from round milestones: an animated emblem at round 10, the Zursa Minor charm at round 25 and an Ultra GobbleGum at round 50, and in Cursed Survival the Rocket charm at round 75 of Tier 3.

Every milestone of the map, in Survival and Cursed Survival

Trivia

  • The cosmodrome is inspired by Launch, the multiplayer map of the first Black Ops.
  • In the first week of Season 2, a weekly challenge asked players to reach round 10 on Zarya Cosmodrome without opening any doors.
  • Survival came back in Black Ops 7 for the first time since Black Ops II; Zarya Cosmodrome is the third Survival map of the game, after Vandorn Farm and Exit 115.
  • Its description in the game ends on a choice: failure to launch, or glory for the Motherland.
  • The song that plays during the rocket launch of Ashes of the Damned is the one of the loading screen of Der Eisendrache.