The Kazakh government is seeking to revive the Baikonur Cosmodrome, most of which is still leased to Russia, into a modern launch site for rockets from around the world, according to bne IntelliNews.
Technical specialists are setting up a high cable mast on the first launch pad of the Zenit complex. It is designed to supply power to the long-delayed Russian Soyuz-5 rocket, whose first test flight is scheduled for December.
Azamat Doszhanov, the head of Kazakhstan’s space agency KazCosmos in Baikonur, urged not to “waste” time and modernise site No. 45, the €1.3 billion project designed to attract foreign investment.
The effectiveness of satellite launches from sites located as close to the equator as possible made Baikonur a strategically important for the Soviet Union. The first satellite was launched from there in 1957, and in 1961, Yuri Gagarin became the first to successfully reach Earth orbit from this launch pad.
After the collapse of the USSR, the cosmodrome was leased to Russia until 2050. However, after the outbreak of war in Ukraine in February 2022, due to large-scale sanctions, cooperation with many partners was stopped.
Kazakhstan plans to create a special economic zone for “national space projects and foreign start-ups.” Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov confirmed negotiations with India’s Skyroot, China’s Deep Blue Aerospace and several European companies.
“We briefly discussed options for launch pads or joint grant applications,” Christian Schiemer, CEO of Germany’s Hympulse, stated.
During Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Astana last year, Beijing pledged to allocate €13 million for joint space projects. Chinese startups may become the first foreign operators to use Baikonur facilities. However, experts warn that China’s participation may again link the spaceport with one foreign partner, as was the case with Russia.
This year, the cosmodrome celebrated its 70th anniversary. To date, only three of its ten launch sites are active: one for the Soyuz-2 programme and two for the Proton-M heavy-lift rocket.
The largest programme is the Soyuz-5, managed by the Russian-Kazakh joint venture Baiterek. The project is designed to launch satellites and probes into low Earth orbit, with six to eight launches per year starting from 2028.
