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S7 mulls selling Sea Launch to state corporation Rosatom — sources

According to one of the sources, costs of the project would be too high for a company, affected by coronavirus pandemic

The Xin Guang Hua transport vessel carries the Odyssey launch platform Dmitry Yefremov/TASS

The Xin Guang Hua transport vessel carries the Odyssey launch platform

© Dmitry Yefremov/TASS

MOSCOW, June 10. /TASS/. Russia’s S7 company mulls selling the Sea Launch space complex to a subsidiary of Russia’s state corporation Rosatom, negotiations on the issue are under way, two sources in Russia’s business circles have told TASS.

"S7 is set to sell the Odyssey floating platform and the commander ship as part of its program to sell non-core assets. The most likely buyer is a subsidiary of Rosatom. Negotiations are under way," one of the sources said.

The second source confirmed the information, adding that "given the condition of the platform and the commander ship following the US side’s removal of equipment, and in connection with the need to create coastal infrastructure from scratch, costs of implementing the project are estimated as high."

"Considering financial losses sustained as a result of the pandemic, a private company simply has no money to do that," he added.

Rosatom did not comment on the information provided by the sources. A request for comment has been sent to S7.

The Sea Launch, which conducted 36 space launches (32 of them successful) before suspending its launch activities in 2014, was acquired by Russia’s S7 Group in 2016. Earlier, S7 Space announced that it will relocate the Launch platform and the command ship to Slavyanka shipyard in 2020 for repairs and reconstruction.

The sea part of the complex consists of the Odyssey maritime launch pad and the command and assembly ship, which conducts rocket assembly and pre-launch control. This spring, the command ship and the floating platform were taken to Russia’s Far East. On March 17, the Sea Launch Commander ship arrived to Slavyanka and berthed at the Slavyanka Shipyard. The Odyssey spacecraft launch platform arrived to the port on March 30.

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