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Russian Aerospace Agency To Get 1.5 Billion Rubles For Launching Rockets To Iss

Posted on: Friday, 14 November 2003, 06:00 CST

MOSCOW. Nov 13 (Interfax) - Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov has instructed the Ministry of Finance to make a decision within three days on the allotment of 1.5 billion rubles for the Russian Aerospace Agency.

The money shall be assigned before the end of the year for launches of Russian rockets to the International Space Station (ISS) in 2004, Director of the Russian Aerospace Agency Yuri Koptev told the press after a government meeting.

The United States is restarting shuttle launch programs to the ISS, but the first launch will be done in late September or early October of 2004, Koptev said.

The first launch of a space shuttle will not be connected with the ISS program. It will test the safety of space shuttles, Koptev said.

The reconstruction of a group of earth monitoring satellites is a priority of Russia's aerospace activities in 2004, he said. Three such satellites will be launched next year.

"Another priority of ours is to reconstruct and develop the group of telecom satellites," Koptev said.

The federal budget will cover 40% of the satellite launching expenses. The rest will come from other sources, including payments for the right to use frequencies, Koptev said.

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