spacetoday.net: Russia extends lease on Baikonur

Posted: Sat, Jan 10, 2004, 5:11 PM ET (2211 GMT)
Soyuz booster prepared for Soyuz 2 launch (RSC Energia)

Russia has agreed to extend its lease on the Baikonur launch site through the middle of this century. Russian president Vladimir Putin, during a summit meeting with Kazakh president Nursultan Nazarbayev in Kazakhstan, signed a lease for the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan that extends to 2050. The agreement gave no indication that Russia will pay more than its current annual fee of $115 million for the site, although Russia will increase Kazakh participation in the facility, including training Kazakh cosmonauts. Russia had in recent years appeared eager to abandon Baikonur because of the lease payments, seeking to move launches to the Plesetsk and Svobodny launch facilities within Russia's borders. Russia has also been developing a new large launch vehicle, the Angara, that would be capable of placing payloads into GEO from Plesetsk, which is currently only possible using Proton vehicles from Baikonur. Russian officials have indicated that they plan on continuing the development of Angara, but will also cooperate with Kazakhstan to build an Angara launch pad at Baikonur as well.