Kazakhstan Reduces Proton Launches From Baikonour

Proton-M launch from Baikonur. Kazhakstan has cut down the number of the launches for 2013 (Credits: Roscosmos)

Proton-M launch from Baikonour. Kazakhstan has cut down the number of the launches for 2013 (Credits: Roscosmos).

Kazakhstan has approved only 12 Proton launches from the Baikonour space launch facility in 2013,  instead of the 17 originally planned by Russia.

Baikonour, which is the Russian main launch site, is currently at the center of a heated political discourse.  The tension between Russia and Kazakhstan has grown in the last few months, since Taglat Musarbayev, head of Kazakh space agency , Kazcosmos, , denounced Russia in December 2012 for failing to follow the Baiterek agreement and demanded that Proton launches were to be reduced.

Proton-M is currently Russia’s heaviest launcher and Baikonour is the only site equipped for launching the rocket.  The Angara rocket is the only possible launch vehicle that is capable of performing the role of the Proton-M, and that is still in the development stage.

The current tense political situation is due to Russia’s indicated desire to withdraw from Baikonour, which is thought to be planned after the completion of the new Vostochny Cosmodrome in 2015.  The withdrawal will leave Baikonur without a customer to operate and maintain the launch facility, and will leave Kazakhstan without the $115 million a year of rental fees from Russia.

Specifically, the Russian Space Federal Agency (Roscosmos) is planning to modify the terms of Baikonour’s lease, by reducing the annual rent paid to Kazakhstan for the site or by paying dependent on the number of launches.  Russia has also announced that it is going launch the majority of state satellites from Plesetsk cosmodrome rather than Kazakhstan.

Although the 2 countries have an agreement until 2050, Baikonour’s future is unclear.  What is almost certain, is that with the construction of the new cosmodrome, and the shifting of state satellite launch operations to Plesetsk, Baikonour will be unlikely to remain as Russia’s primary launch facility.  While Russia seems to be moving towards maintaining the sovereignty of space access within its own national borders, Kazakhstan are making contingency plans to convert Baikonour into an industrial center for technology businesses, as well as pushing for completion of the launch pad for the Zenit rocket.

The first of the 12 launches approved from Baikonour is scheduled for February 5, when the Soyuz-2.1a will deliver six Globalstar telecommunication satellites into orbit.

 

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