Kazakhstan, Russia agree to develop joint projects at Baikonur launch pad

Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev said on Thursday that he had agreed with Russian President Vladimir Putin to develop the Russian-Kazakh project at the Baikonur launch pad that Russia leases from Kazakhstan to make Kazakhstan a space nation.


"We have agreed on carrying out a program at Baikonur, when at certain sites we will be developing joint ventures with Russia - Baiterek, in which we will be building a separate launch unit for the rocket with clean fuel - oxygen-hydrogen," Nazarbayev told reporters summing up the results of his talks with the Russian counterpart. He said the implementation of these projects is scheduled for 2022.

"Kazakhstan indeed becomes a space nation," the president stressed.

He said Kazakhstan already has four Earth remote sensing satellites. "Now we will participate in space launches and train our personnel," the Kazakh leader said.

The development of Russia’s new-generation carrier rocket Sunkar for the Baiterek compound at the Baikonur spaceport in Kazakhstan is expected to start in 2018, said Russian government documents released in spring.
[tass.com]
 12/10/17