ESA Considers Opening Kourou To Russian Launchers

SPACEMART

Situated close to the equator, Kourou is ideally situated for missions into geostationary orbit. In addition, the French Guiana coastline allows for launches into all useful orbits, from northward flights to eastward tracks.

Moscow (Interfax) Jan. 10, 2001
The European Space Agency will sit down in March to consider the possibility of Russian Soyuz rockets being launched from the Kourou launch site in French Guiana.

The ESA was due to consider the issue last week, but the discussion was put back because not all of the documents were ready and views on the issue differed, Yuri Koptev, head of the Russian Aerospace Agency, told Interfax.

The French-Russian Starsem company, set up in 1996 specially for commercial launches using Soyuz rockets, has now formed a working group to prepare all of the documents, Koptev said.

Although the Kourou site is on French territory, it effectively belongs to 16 European countries, Koptev said.

"At issue are not just bilateral relations between France and Russia, but the interests of the whole of the single Europe. France, Belgium, Italy and to some extent Belgium are the European space leaders. They have made the heftiest contribution to European space programs. If our German and French colleagues understand why we want to launch Soyuz rockets from Kourou, other countries might not be so sure, and others still might object," Koptev said. "Their main argument would be that they have not received enough documentation to convince them that the Soyuz would not create additional problems for the Ariane-5 rockets," he said.

The issue has constantly been discussed on a political level. Russian President Vladimir Putin has in his time raised the issue. "He got a generally positive response from Jacques Chirac, but one indicating that the decision is not for France alone to make as the country is part of the single Europe."

As reported, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov discussed launching Russian rockets from Kourou during his recent visit to France. "In Germany, we also received total understanding," Koptev said.

The Soyuz would be an attractive proposition for launches from Kourou because it is lighter than the Ariane-4, while it has a similar payload, and would be much cheaper to use. The experts say it would only cost $30 million to launch a Soyuz, compared with $80 million for an Ariane-4. France's other rocket, the Ariane-5, is capable of lifting a payload of more than 6 tonnes, and the Soyuz 1.1-1.2 tonnes.

It would cost something like $250 million-$300 million to build a launch pad for Soyuz rockets at Kourou.

SPACEMART

Kazakhstan To Extend Baikonur Lease 10 Years

Baikonur (Interfax) Nov. 16, 2000
Kazakhstan is prepared to extend Russia's lease on the Baikonur cosmodrome for another ten years, Kazakh Prime Minister Kasymzhomart Tokayev announced at a news briefing at Baikonur on Thursday.