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Kazakhs, Russians Create Space Venture
Astana, Kazakhstan (UPI) Apr 05, 2005 Russia and Kazakhstan have signed founding documents for a joint space venture, Russian space officials said Tuesday. Alexander Medvedev, head of the Khrunichev State Space Research and Production Center, and Maksudbek Rakhanov, chairman of the Kazakh Finance Ministry's State Property and Privatization Committee, signed the founding documents for the Baiterek joint venture, Khrunichev said in a news release. Each nation retains a 50 percent share in the venture with a charter capital of $400,000, the Kazinform news agency said. Khrunichev will build a new rocket-launch complex for Angara boosters - Russian heavy launch vehicles - at Kazakhstan's Baikonur cosmodrome, the center said. Baiterek's infrastructure will be based on existing launch sites for heavy boosters. The center will be named Baiterek and planned for completion by the en d of 2008, Russian media reported earlier. Kazakhstan's share of the project will total between $120 million and $150 million, the Interfax-Kazakhstan news agency said. International Launch Services, a joint venture of U.S. Lockheed Martin and Khrunichev, will market Baiterek's services, Khrunichev said. The Baikonur cosmodrome - 330 miles southwest of the Kazakh capital of Astana - is now leased from Kazakhstan by the Russian government.
Russia And Kazakhstan To Build Commercial Rocket The rocket will be built at Russia's Baikonur space base in Kazakhstan. "We have established a joint venture to develop a new rocket, Baitarek, based on the Russian (military) rocket Angara," said General Anatoly Perminov of the Russian space agency Roskosmos. He said the project would be financed by Kazakhstan. "It will be used solely for civilian purposes," Viatcheslav Davidenko, a Roskosmos spokesman, told AFP. "Russia will develop the two projects, Baitarek and Angara, simultaneously," he added. The Baiterek project will cost up to 200 million dollars, another Roskosmos employee said on condition of anonymity. The Angara project will mainly be used to put Russian military satellites in space and should replace the powerful rocket currently used, the Proton. It is scheduled for completion in 2008 at the Plessetsk space station in Russia's northwest. Unlike the Proton, which uses a toxic fuel, both Baitarek and Angara will be powered by a cleaner fuel mixture of liquid oxygen and kerosene. Related Links SpaceDaily Search SpaceDaily Subscribe To SpaceDaily Express
LockMart Delivers Atlas V For Nasa's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Mission
Denver CO (SPX) Apr 05, 2005NASA, Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Lockheed Martin marked another significant milestone in the Mars space exploration program as Lockheed Martin delivered the vehicle that will launch the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter mission to Mars on August 10, this year. |
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