Mussabayev talked about Russia's benefits from Baikonur

RIA Novosti©

Russia made about $1 billion on launches of Proton rockets alone in 2010, Chairman of Kazakhstan National Space Agency Talgat Mussabayev is quoted by Tengrinews.kz as saying as part of his excursus about Russia's gain from the use of Baikonur Cosmodrome that it rents from Kazakhstan. “What concerns other classes of carrier rockets, like Zenit, Soyuz and Dnepr, the profit there is even higher. As per our calculations it is around $1.5 billion a year. This is very profitable for Russia, but there is a part for Kazakhstan there, too. We understand that business is going well and we are constructing our own launch pad Baiterek that we are planning to use to become as successful as Russia is,” said Talgat Mussabayev during a lecture in Gumilyov Eurasian National University in Astana on April 19. Russia is paying $115 million a year to rent of Baikonur Cosmodrome from Kazakhstan. Chairman of Kazakhstan National Space Agency said that he is concerned about Baikonur, however. “In 2007 Putin signed a Decree to create a new Vostochniy cosmodrome in Russia. There is a possibility that Russia will move all its operations to its own cosmodromes by 2050. But development of international space services is crucial for maintaining further operations at Baikonur Cosmodrome. We have to think of ways to save Baikonur in case of termination of the federal programs,” he said. By Renat Tashkinbayev

Russia made about $1 billion on launches of Proton rockets alone in 2010, Chairman of Kazakhstan National Space Agency Talgat Mussabayev is quoted by Tengrinews.kz as saying as part of his excursus about Russia's gain from the use of Baikonur Cosmodrome that it rents from Kazakhstan. “What concerns other classes of carrier rockets, like Zenit, Soyuz and Dnepr, the profit there is even higher. As per our calculations it is around $1.5 billion a year. This is very profitable for Russia, but there is a part for Kazakhstan there, too. We understand that business is going well and we are constructing our own launch pad Baiterek that we are planning to use to become as successful as Russia is,” said Talgat Mussabayev during a lecture in Gumilyov Eurasian National University in Astana on April 19. Russia is paying $115 million a year to rent of Baikonur Cosmodrome from Kazakhstan. Chairman of Kazakhstan National Space Agency said that he is concerned about Baikonur, however. “In 2007 Putin signed a Decree to create a new Vostochniy cosmodrome in Russia. There is a possibility that Russia will move all its operations to its own cosmodromes by 2050. But development of international space services is crucial for maintaining further operations at Baikonur Cosmodrome. We have to think of ways to save Baikonur in case of termination of the federal programs,” he said. By Renat Tashkinbayev

Zenit Cosmodrome Dnepr Kazakh Kazakhstan Kazakhstan Mussabayev Proton Russia Soyuz Baikonur