Russian PM allows Russian and foreign spacecraft to be launched from Baikonur
Organizations asking for the launches have submitted written confirmations that the aforesaid spacecraft are not meant for military purposes
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.