Putin: Vostochny space center has twice less builders than necessary
VOSTOCHNY Space Center (Amur region). Sept 2 (Interfax) - The construction of the Vostochny space center in the Amur region is still 30 to 55 days late, Russian President Vladimir Putin said.
"I have to say there is still a lag in the construction of main launch and technological facilities. This is a lag of 30-55 days," Putin said at a conference dedicated to the Vostochny space center project on Tuesday.
He urged the audience "to pay attention to that fact."
Slightly more than 6,000 workers are daily building the space center, "but we need 12,000 to 15,000, and this is confirmed by Roscosmos," he said.
The president ordered to verify construction schedules and the efficiency of their fulfillment.
Vostochny is tasked to be ready for unmanned space missions powered by Soyuz-2 medium-lift launch vehicles in 2015 and manned programs starting from 2018, the chief of state noted.
He said the space center's capacities would grow in the future to support heavy-lift and super-heavy-lift launches for studying the Moon, Mars and other space objects.