• Forum
• SITREP
• Military
• WMD
• Intelligence
• Homeland Security

• Space

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• Public Eye

Federation Council ratified agreement on Baikonur lease extension until 2050

     MOSCOW, June 8 (RIA Novosti) - The Federation Council (the upper house of the Russian parliament) ratified on Wednesday the Russian-Kazakh agreement on furthering cooperation in efficient use of the Baikonur space launch facility.      With 90 votes needed, 129 members of the Federation Council voted in favor of the agreement, with no nay votes and abstentions.      Signed in January 2004, the agreement extends Baikonur's term of lease until 2050 and stipulates establishing at Baikonur the Baiterek space rocket complex wrapped around Russian space rocket complex Angara.      The lease is expected to cost Russia $115 million a year.      According to the chairman of the upper house's CIS committee, Vadim Gustov, speaking at the session, the Baiterek complex is to be very environment-friendly under the agreement.       "The agreement has been approved to facilitate beneficial cooperation between Russia and Kazakhstan in joint operation of the Baikonur space launch center and to implement international cooperation programs," the Federation Council member said.      According to Gustov, the agreement will enable Russia to carry on pursuing its manned space program and international space programs, including commercial ones.      "As far as the Baiterek environment-friendly complex development is concerned, it should make launches environment-friendly and reduce the psychological stress on the population residing in the area over which ascending rockets blast off," Kustov emphasized.      He also stressed that the agreement would not call for additional Russian governmental spending because the Baiterek complex construction would be paid for on the commercial basis.