BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jun. 17
By Nargiz Sadikhova – Trend:
Governments of Kazakhstan and Russia continue negotiations on the topic of Baiterek Rocket and Space Complex creation in Kazakhstan, Russian State Space Corporation ROSCOSMOS told Trend.
The official said that the construction of the complex will be carried out at the base of a number of already existing Baikonur Cosmodrome sites in Kazakhstan. As noted earlier this year, Russia is to be responsible for the rocket construction, whereas Kazakhstan takes the responsibility for construction of the land infrastructure.
“Russian party is concerned with Soyuz-5 missile construction, test equipment at the technical and launch complexes, as well as the modernization of the technical complex and the spacecraft, and is planning to allocate nearly $916 million for this,” the previously published information on the topic said.
Talking whether the COVID-19 situation affected the negotiations process in any way, the ROSCOSMOS official said that notwithstanding quarantine restrictions imposed by each country to battle the coronavirus spread, the negotiations process maintains.
“Negotiations are ongoing and are in the active phase despite the limitations associated with the pandemic. The parties are using videoconference format for communications. The final details of the agreement, as well as the details and the timeframe of the project for complex creation are subject to further refinement,” the official said.
Kazakhstan’s Baikonur city is the administrative and living center of major Baikonur Cosmodrome. The city and the Cosmodrome together create a Baikonur complex, which Russia is renting from Kazakhstan till 2050.
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