• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

Russia to make all space launches from own territory in future

Posted on: Saturday, 3 April 2004, 06:00 CST

Text of report by Russian news agency ITAR-TASS

Krasnoznamensk, 3 April: Russia is planning to carry out space launches exclusively from its own territory in the long term. "In the long term we are planning to carry out launches only from the territory of Russia - we have in mind the space launch sites Plesetsk and Svobodnyy," Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Space Troops Vladimir Popovkin said today.

He was reporting to Russian President Vladimir Putin and French President Jacques Chirac at the Main Spacecraft Test and Control Centre on the activity of the Space Troops.

Popovkin said that "at the present time Russia is using three launch sites - Baykonur, Plesetsk and Svobodnyy". He clarified that Baykonur, which Russia leases from Kazakhstan, is the only site from which Russia launches heavy-class rockets and manned spacecraft. It is mainly light- and medium-class rockets carrying satellites, primarily of a military nature, that are launched from Plesetsk.

Popovkin reported to the presidents on the space monitoring system which is used by Russia. He said that it "monitors the condition of domestic and foreign spacecraft, as it is essential to know the whole situation in space".

The current system makes it possible to obtain "objective and full information" on spacecraft, to determine their flight trajectory and country of origin. "The warning system has not given a single false alarm since it went into operation," he stressed.

Popovkin said there are currently about 100 Russian spacecraft in various orbits.

More News in this Category