Russia Builds New Cosmodrome; Obama Just Expands Empty Space

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin announced that his government will allocate the funding needed to start full-scale construction of the new Vostochny [Eastern] Space Center in Russia's Far East beginning next year. "Late last night or early in the morning, the government decided to allocate, over the next three years, 24.7 billion rubles [about US$811 million] for the beginning of the full-scale construction of the Vostochny Space Center," Putin said, Novosti reported. He was speaking at the headquarters of the Energia space corporation in Moscow region. These funds will create the necessary base for the project, Putin said. "I hope that the Vostochny Space Center will become the first civilian national space center, and [will] guarantee full independence of Russia's space activities," Putin said. Construction should be completed by 2015.

Lyndon LaRouche emphasized the contrast between the Russian decision to go ahead and start building this very important project for space exploration, while the Obama government is only generating more empty space.

Putin said that "It is important that the new space center will provide service for all prospective space projects, including a manned transport system, new-generation boosters and future interplanetary complexes." The space center will increase the industrial capacity of the Far East and encourage more investment in this huge, strategic region. Putin also stressed to the officials of Energia and the Russian Space Agency, that they must intensify cooperation with counterpart companies and agencies in the European Union, Japan, China, and the United States. Last September, deputy Presidential representative to the Far East Alexander Levintal, called on U.S. businessmen to expand current low investment levels in the Russian Far East, to projects in infrastructure and space (EIR Jan. 15)

Federal Space Agency Roscosmos director Anatoly Perminov said construction work will employ up to 30,000 people. The cosmodrome will be built near Uglegorsk, about 100 km from the border with China.

In 2007, the head of the Russian space agency, Roskomos, Anatoly Perminov, stated that Russia must build a new cosmodrome, as Russia needed to develop an alternative to the former Soviet space center at Baikonur in Kazakhstan. Then-President Putin signed a decree to develop the eastern cosmodrome in November 2007, and work has continued since then to develop the project.

A discussion of the full strategic importance of this project for Russia, Eurasia, and the US and Canada, was presented to the Schiller Institute conference in Germany in September 2007 (see EIR Sept. 28, 2007 Space Industry Cluster in Russias Amur Region).