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Sea Launch project is sold but investor cannot be revealed — Russian official

Sea Launch is an international project for building and operating a sea-based space rocket complex

Head of the Roscosmos corporation, Igor Komarov Artiom Korotaev/ITAR-TASS

Head of the Roscosmos corporation, Igor Komarov

© Artiom Korotaev/ITAR-TASS

MOSCOW, March 30. /TASS/. The Sea Launch project, using Zenit rockets for launches from a floating platform in the Pacific Ocean, has been sold, the head of the Roscosmos corporation, Igor Komarov has said.

"I cannot name the investor or disclose the value of the contract by virtue of certain circumstances. I do hope I will be able to say more by the end of April," Komarov replied to a question.

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He added that investors from the United States, Europe, China and Australia have been among the bidders.

According to earlier reports the project, suspended in 2014, may get back to the market of launch services in 2016. At the end of last year Segey Gugkayev told TASS that the project would join "proactive competition for new contracts in the first quarter of 2016 after the deal with the investor has been structured."

Sea Launch is an international project for building and operating a sea-based space rocket complex.

For its implementation a same-name company was established back in 1995, with the United States’ Boeing, Russia’s space rocket corporation Energiya, Norway’s ship-building enterprise Kvaerner (currently Aker Solutions) and Ukraine’s design bureau Yuzhnoye and industrial association Yuzhmash acting as co-founders. The Sea Launch company declared bankruptcy in the summer of 2009. Energiya gained the commanding positions in the project after reorganization in 2010.

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