Fwd: Russian PM allows Russian and foreign spacecraft to be launched from Baikonur

Sent from my iPad

Begin forwarded message:

From: "Gary Johnson" <gjohnson144@comcast.net>
Date: May 16, 2014 3:44:41 PM CDT
To: "Gary Johnson" <gjohnson144@comcast.net>
Subject: FW: Russian PM allows Russian and foreign spacecraft to be launched from Baikonur

 

Russian PM allows Russian and foreign spacecraft to be launched from Baikonur

May 16, 18:22 UTC+4
Organizations asking for the launches have submitted written confirmations that the aforesaid spacecraft are not meant for military purposes

 

Baikonur spaceport

© ITAR-TASS/Mikhail Pochuev

 

MOSCOW, May 16. /ITAR-TASS/. Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has allowed the Russian Defense Ministry to use space and military systems as well as the personnel of military units for launching a number of spacecraft from the Baikonur space launch facility in Kazakhstan.

The text of Medvedev's instruction was posted on the Russian government's website on Friday.

The Soyuz-2 carrier rocket with the Frigate booster rocket will be used to launch Russian-made Meteor-M No.2, MKA-FKI (PN-2) and DX-1 spacecraft; TDS and UKube-1 (Britain); M3MSat (Canada); AISSAT-2 (Norway) and SkySat (USA).

Medvedev's instruction allows the presence of foreign experts at Baikonur.

"The instruction provides for access of foreign experts to facilities at the Baikonur space launch complex with an aim to create conditions for the launch," Medvedev wrote.

Organizations asking for the launches have submitted written confirmations that the aforesaid spacecraft are not meant for military purposes and will be used for remote sensing of Earth; scientific experiments and automatic identification of sea vessels.

 

© Copyright 2014 ITAR-TASS. All rights reserved. 

 

===============================================================

 

 

Russia Says Foreign Personnel Allowed at Baikonur Space Center

Russia Says Foreign Personnel Allowed at Baikonur Space Center

© RIA Novosti. Oleg Urusov

10:50 16/05/2014

MOSCOW, May 16 (RIA Novosti) – Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has signed a decree allowing foreign personnel to participate in launches at the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan.

Foreign specialists will be allowed to the sites at the Baikonur space center "where works primarily linked to ensuring the launch of spacecraft are carried out," says the decree published on the Russian government website on Friday.

The Russian Defense Ministry may on a contract basis use space systems and military complexes and attract personnel of military units to conduct the launches of the MKA-FKI (PN2) spacecraft for the fundamental space research and Meteor-M 2 satellites by the Soyuz-2 carrier rocket, equipped with the Frigate rocket booster.

The launches of TDS-1 and UKube-l spacecraft for research (the UK), M3 MSat (Canada) and AISSat-2 (Norway) spacecrafts used for the automatic identification and location of maritime vessels, SkySat-2 commercial Earth observation satellite (the US) and DX-1 spacecraft used for automatic identification and location of maritime vessels (Russia) will be conducted on the contract basis.

Russia has leased the Baikonur space center from Kazakhstan since the collapse of the Soviet Union and the lease treaty will expire in 2050. It pays annual fee of $115 million for the use of the space center, which has the world's busiest launch schedule at the moment.

© 2014 RIA Novosti

===============================================================