Kazakhstan’s Baikonur expansion plan seen boosting Russian launches

Russia could benefit from Kazakhstan’s plans to turn Baikonur into an international space hub, with Roscosmos chief Dmitry Bakanov saying the initiative would not undermine bilateral cooperation and could instead boost demand for Russian rockets.

“There is nothing bad about this initiative. We welcome any international projects in the space sector. Moreover, this will increase demand for Russian rockets,” Bakanov said in an interview with Yunashev Live.

His comments followed reports that Kazakhstan intends to open the Baikonur spaceport to a broader range of foreign partners as part of efforts to increase the number of launches conducted from the site.

Aidyn Aimbetov, chairman of the board of the Kazakh-Russian joint venture Baiterek, was previously reported to have said that Kazakhstan was considering the move to attract more international space projects to Baikonur.

Baikonur is the world’s largest operational spaceport and is located in Kazakhstan. The facility is leased by Russia until 2050 and is currently used almost exclusively for Russian-Kazakh cooperation and Roscosmos programmes.

Bakanov said greater international involvement would therefore be compatible with existing cooperation between Moscow and Astana while potentially creating additional demand for Russian launch vehicles.

By Tamilla Hasanova