Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday ordered that construction be sped up on a multi-billion-dollar spaceport in Russia’s Far East, which he said would break reliance on the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan and launch future missions to the Moon and Mars.
Putin flew in a helicopter over the sprawling building site in Vostochny at a time when conflict with Ukraine, maker of Zenit and Dnepr rockets, is highlighting the fragility of Russia’s dependence on former Soviet republics in defense and space.
Building a new launchpad on its own soil is central to Putin’s effort to reform a once-pioneering space industry hobbled by …read more
Source: Voice of America
