Roscosmos estimates completing of 2nd stage of Vostochny Cosmodrome at 50 bln rubles

MOSCOW. Aug 5 (Interfax) - Roscosmos needs about 50 billion rubles to complete construction of the second stage of the Vostochny Cosmodrome, Roscosmos First Deputy General Director Andrei Yechaninov said in an interview with Interfax.

"According to the preliminary estimates, it will cost about 50 billion rubles to complete construction of the second stage," Yelchaninov said.

This does not include the cost of construction of launch areas for the prospective Amur-SPG and Korona rockets, he said.

Alongside the second stage of Vostochny, an airport is being built near the cosmodrome, Yelchaninov said.

"The runway commissioning is due in Q4 2024. The Cosmonaut Training Center and airlines delivering space cargo are waiting for this to happen in the first turn," Yelchaninov said.

Roscosmos head Yury Borisov said on April 17 that the Vostochny launch area for the Angara rocket family (which belongs to the second stage) will be upgraded to launch Angara-1.2 light rockets in 2026-2028.

The work includes further development of cosmodrome infrastructure, "including construction of a new assembly and testing facility, infrastructure for using hydrogen as a rocket fuel component, and infrastructure for manned programs," he said.

Vostochny is the newest cosmodrome in Russia, which performed the inaugural launch in 2016.