The site will be smaller than Baikonur, which is the largest and oldest launch facility on the globe, but it will boast brand-new launch pads, a cutting-edge residential complex, and updated research facilities clustered within the 430-square-kilometre site. Up to 30,000 specialists could be brought in to build the new cosmodrome.
But the cosmodrome is just a start for Russia’s new space ambitions. The US’s old space rival plans to nurture its own private space industry while at the same time building state-owned next-gen deep space launch vehicles and crew capsules. The cosmodrome will augment the development of private industry, the space agency’s deputy chief says, because it will ensure the stability of the Russian space industry by centering it on Russian soil.
The first launch will take place as soon as the facility is completed in 2015, with its first manned flight slated for 2018.
[BBC]
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