Russia, Kazakhstan Move Forward on Baiterek Launch Complex Redevelopment

NUR-SULTAN, Kazakhstan (Roscosmos PR) — The seventh meeting of the Russian-Kazakh intergovernmental commission on the Baikonur complex, chaired by the Deputy Prime Ministers of Russia and Kazakhstan, respectively, Yuri Borisov and Roman Sklyar, was held in Nur-Sultan (Kazakhstan) on December 13, 2021.

Dmitry Rogozin, General Director of the State Corporation Roscosmos, also took part in the event. During the meeting, a wide range of issues of bilateral cooperation at Baikonur and in the space sector in general, first of all, the issue of the implementation of the joint project “Baiterek” was considered.

The parties noted that work on it is being carried out in accordance with the previously reached agreements and the concluded contract. During the meeting, the parties agreed on the procedure for further joint practical actions to continue the implementation of the project.

“It is extremely important for us to see the light at the end of the tunnel, such a light is the implementation of the Baiterek program to launch the Soyuz-5 launch vehicle from the Baikonur cosmodrome. The main documents have been agreed upon, the appearance of the rocket and space complex has been agreed upon, the rocket itself is in the stage of ground-based static and dynamic tests. This complex will be ready for the start of flight design tests from December 2023,” said Dmitry Rogozin.

He also recalled that construction work will begin directly at the Baiterek complex in March 2022 and should be completed, according to plans, 3-4 months before the start of flight tests of the rocket.

During the meeting of the intergovernmental commission, special attention was paid to the issue of withdrawal from lease, write-off and disposal of unused facilities of the Baikonur complex, issues in the field of education, as well as social issues of the city of Baikonur.