[FPSPACE] Aim for new launch pad in east of Russia, by 2020; India applies for full membership of ISS: Perminov

[pjp]

>From Agency France Presse:

 

http://rawstory.com/news/afp/Russia_aims_for_new_far_east_space__09212007.ht
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Russia aims for new far east space launch pad by 2020

 

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."