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Russia announced on Monday that construction of its new space centre will start in 2011. A government official revealed that the new space centre will be built in Russia's Far East.
The Baikonur space centre in the Central Asian Republic of Kazakhstan and the Plesetsk space centre in northwest Russia are the two currently used launch sites by Russia for space carrier rockets and ballistic missiles tests.
The Central Asian Republic of Kazakhstan has been leased by Russia since the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Army General Nikolai Abroskin, head of the Federal Service for the Production of Special Construction Work, said that the construction of the new Vostochny station would be carried out in three stages, and would be completed in 2018.
The general said, “In all, seven launch pads are to be built at the space centre, including two for manned flights and two for space freighters.”
He said that an inter-agency working group will look after the construction and that the station's infrastructure designing work was in progress.
