BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jan.16
By Nargiz Sadikhova - Trend:
Kazakhstan, Russia and United Arab Emirates (UAE) continue work on modernization of the world’s largest spaceport – Baikonur Cosmodrome, a representative of Kazakhstan’s Aerospace Committee of the Ministry of Digital Development, Defense and Aerospace Industry told Trend.
According to the representative, currently parties are preparing to sign the trilateral agreement for modernization of ‘Gagarin's Start’ launch site at Baikonur Cosmodrome. Following the signing, the parties will start the modernization process.
“The modernization of the ‘Gagarin's Start’ launch site at Baikonur Cosmodrome is planned for 2020,” the official said.
On Jan. 15, 2019 Kazakhstan’s Mazhilis (parliament) approved the draft of the law on ratification of the agreement between Kazakhstan and Russian for gas supply to Baikonur Complex.
In June 2019 Russian Direct Investment Fund, in partnership with ROSCOSMOS, Middle East investors and Glavkosmos Launch Services, a subsidiary of ROSCOSMOS, announced that they are to invest $87 million in the project of modernization of Baikonur Cosmodrome.
Thus, the project includes modernization of the ‘Gagarin's Start’ launch site to ensure its further operations for the launches of Soyuz-2 carrier rockets.
This investment allows for updating the ground infrastructure of the spaceport, increasing the competitiveness of Russian space industry of the global market of launch services and commercializing space technologies.
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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