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."

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