Russia, Kazakhstan to complete Baiterek project - Roscosmos head
MOSCOW. April 21 (Interfax) - Russian Roscosmos head Yury Borisov and Kazakh Minister of Digital Development, Innovations and the Aerospace Industry Bagdat Musin have agreed to synchronize the development of the Soyuz-5 launch vehicle and its launch site at Baikonur as part of the Baiterek project, Roscosmos said in a statement.
"We intend to complete the Baiterek project, which will guarantee the future of the Baikonur Cosmodrome. The Kazakh side also wants to proceed [with this]," the statement quoted Borisov as saying.
The two sides noted the strategic importance of the project and agreed to continue implementing it, the Roscosmos statement said.
"The sides discussed synchronizing the development of the Soyuz-5 launch vehicle and the launch site at the Baikonur Cosmodrome as part of the Baiterek joint project," it said.
Roscosmos first deputy head, Andrei Yelchaninov, said in an interview with Interfax on April 10 that the Russian-Kazakh Baiterek project which aims to build a launch site at Baikonur, has certain "flaws" but Roscosmos will not abandon it.
Musin said on March 14 that the Arbitration Court under the Astana International Financial Center (AIFC) ruled to recover more than 2 billion rubles from the Center for the Operation of Ground Space Infrastructure Facilities (TsENKI, part of Roscosmos) in favor of the Kazakh-Russian Baiterek joint venture.
The dispute between the Baiterek joint venture and TsENKI should not affect the implementation of the rocket complex project at Baikonur, the Kazakh Ministry for Digital Development, Innovation and the Aerospace Industry said.
Baiterek is a Russian-Kazakh space rocket complex currently under construction at Baikonur, which expected to serve as the future launchpad for Soyuz-5 rockets.
Its construction has been repeatedly postponed due to technical documentation issues, and was due to begin at the end of 2022.
Previously, the first launch of a Soyuz-5 rocket was planned before the end of 2023. However, Borisov and Musin have agreed to postpone the first launch until 2024.