ASTANA. June 6 (Interfax-AVN) - Kazakh Minister of Defense and the Aerospace Industry Beibut Atamkulov and the newly appointed general director of Roscosmos, Dmitry Rogozin, have discussed the creation of the Baiterek rocket and space complex.
Talks between Kazakh and Russian specialists were held during Atamkulov's visit to the Baikonur Cosmodrome, the press service of the Ministry of Defense and the Aerospace Industry said on Wednesday.
"At the meeting, the parties discussed the implementation of the project to create the new, environmentally safe Baiterek rocket and space complex, the attraction of investments to the Baikonur complex, and the further development of the city of Baikonur," the press service said in a statement.
Kazakh special presidential representative at Baikonur Serik Kozhaniyazov, head of the Baikonur city administration Konstantin Busygin, acting Roscosmos first deputy general director Nikolai Sevostyanov, and other employees of the two countries' space agencies attended the meeting.
Atamkulov also held talks with the heads of the European Space Agency and NASA during his working trip, the ministry said.
Baiterek is a project to create a Kazakhstan-owned complex to launch Russian rockets at Baikonur.
Russia agreed to create a new medium-class launch vehicle, and Kazakhstan is building the ground complex on the basis of the Zenit-M.
The first flight is scheduled to take place in 2022, and the first manned flight in 2024.