Kazakhstan seeks to join Land Launch project

ASTANA, September 19 (Itar-Tass) - International experts will draft a
plan for Kazakhstan's participation in the Land Launch project which
operates commercial launches of the Zenit carrier rocket from the Baikonur
spaceport, the head of the national space agency Kazcosmos, Talgat
Musabayev, told a parliamentary session on Monday.
"At present, the working group of Russian and Kazakh experts is being
created. It will develop a plan for Kazakhstan's participation in the Land
Launch project and consider a tripartite agreement on cooperation among
Kazakhstan, Russia and Ukraine within the project's framework," he said.
The Land Launch project that includes Russia, Ukraine and the United
States envisions the use of the Baikonur spaceport for launching
modernized Zenit carrier rockets with different payloads in a wide range
of orbits.
Musabayev also pointed to Kazakhstan's further efforts to increase its
share in the charter capital of the Russian-Ukrainian company Kosmotras
that provides services for launching the Dnepr-1 conversion boosters from
Baikonur.
"We are taking further steps to increase the share of the national
company Kazakhstan Garysh Sapary in the charter-capital of the
Russian-Ukrainian joint venture Kosmotras to 33.3 percent by acquiring a
23.3 percent stake," he said.
The Kazcosmos chief noted that an economic feasibility study was
developed and submitted to Kazakhstan's Ministry of Economic Development
and Trade.
Musabayev recalled that at present Kazakhstan owns a 10 percent stake
in Kosmotras and in the first six months of this year received first
dividends worth around 2 million roubles for the company's work in 2010.