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Russia to spend over $450 mln annually on Vostochny spaceport construction

The construction of the 2nd stage of the Vostochny spaceport will begin in the second half of 2017

© Marina Lystseva/TASS

MOSCOW, November 30. /TASS/. The budget for the construction of the second stage of the Vostochny spaceport in the Russian Far East in 2017-2019 has been approved in the amount of 25-30 billion rubles ($382.8-459 million) annually, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin told TASS on Wednesday.

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"The money has been allocated and specified by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev for 2017-2019 within the limits of about 25-30 billion rubles annually, i.e. these funds are not as large as it seemed to us earlier," the vice-premier said.

"These funds have been set aside on the basis of the so-called ‘optimal scenario’ proposed by [State Space Agency] Roscosmos," Rogozin said.

The project’s financing will increase significantly from 2020 when the construction of new larger facilities begins at the Vostochny spaceport. Specifically, this will involve the construction of the second stage of the town of Tsiolkovsky and a new aerodrome, the vice-premier said.

"But this [the financing] will depend on the state of Russia’s economy," Rogozin said.

As the vice-premier said, "we have no doubts so far that the president’s decree is realistic."

According to the presidential decree, Russia should complete building infrastructure at the Vostochny spaceport by 2021 for the first unmanned launch of a spacecraft by an Angara carrier rocket and the first manned launch with a crew by 2023.

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Russia's new spaceport: Vostochny cosmodrome

This will require creating a system of areas for the fall of the first and second stages of rockets to timely find and identify them and take them away. Also, work is required to build the necessary infrastructure for preparing crews of cosmonauts for flights, as well as other facilities.

"These are specific things that will begin to be created from 2019," Rogozin said.

The initial plans for the construction of the 2nd stage of the Vostochny spaceport in the Amur Region were adjusted, the vice-premier said.

"We optimized plans and removed some facilities currently unnecessary from the initial project and are shifting them to later dates," the vice-premier said.

The construction of the 2nd stage of the Vostochny spaceport will begin in the second half of 2017 after the entire design documentation is received, the vice-premier said.

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