Russia and Kazakhstan see eye to eye on number of space launches from Baikonur - Shuvalov
BAIKONUR, Kazakhstan. March 29 (Interfax-AVN) - Moscow and Astana have agreed upon this year's schedule for space launches from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov said.
"There are no disagreements between us over space launches. We have fully agreed upon the launch schedule for 2013," Shuvalov told journalists after a session of the Russian-Kazakh governmental commission for Baikonur Cosmodrome operations on Thursday.
Russia and Kazakhstan decided to agree upon Baikonur launch schedules for two or three years, not one year as they did before, he said.
"We have agreed to give the Kazakh side until September 1 to decide on the number of space launches for 2014-2015," Shuvalov said.
Moscow also asked Astana to accomplish this work a little earlier if possible, "in order to avoid unnecessary rumors and speculation on this topic," he said.
Kazakh Deputy Prime Minister Kairat Kelimbetov, for his part, confirmed that the schedule for space launches from the Baikonur Cosmodrome for 2013 had been agreed upon.
"The second issue that we discussed dealt with the agreement on [the number of] space launches in 2013. We think that, on the whole, all outstanding issues have been sorted out," Kalimbetov said.
