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Russia aims for new far east space launch pad by 2020
Moscow (AFP) Sept 21, 2007 The head of the Russian space agency Roskosmos said on Friday he hoped a new spacecraft launch site would be built in the Russian far east by 2020 to supplement the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. In comments carried by Interfax news agency, Roskosmos' head, Anatoly Perminov, also said India had applied to become a full member of the International Space Station (ISS) programme. Perminov said that Russia would need a new launch site partly so it can launch a new type of manned spacecraft, which is still to be developed. "I'm absolutely sure that a new cosmodrome should exist in the far east and be developed for launches of various space vehicles for civilian use and also launches for manned space exploration," Perminov said. He added however that the new site was not viewed as a replacement for Baikonur, which is administered by Russia but lies on Kazakh territory and has been a bone of contention between the two countries. Earlier this month Kazakhstan banned launches of rockets that would pass over provinces being visited by President Nursultan Nazarbayev after a rocket carrying a Japanese satellite crashed into the steppe upon take-off. "It's not possible to stop using Baikonur either for our manned space programme or for the Proton or Zenit launches," he said, referring to two rockets used for unmanned space flight. Perminov said a number of sites were being looked at for possible development, including an existing site in the Amur province bordering China known as Svobodny. He said India had requested full membership of the ISS programme and described India as "an example of a country that has already reached the level of manned space exploration and whose contribution to world space exploration, albeit unmanned, is very large." Related Links Space Tourism, Space Transport and Space Exploration News
Partners Sought For Singapore Space Venture
Singapore (AFP) Sep 11, 2007A proposed Singapore spaceport, announced last year, has yet to get off the ground because the company is still looking for local partners to finance it, a US space travel company said Tuesday. Eric Anderson, president and chief executive officer of Space Adventures, said his company has received interest from potential space travellers across the region -- including Japan, China and Malaysia -- but the Singapore project has yet to take flight because the company still needs local partners. |
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