MOSCOW. March 6 (Interfax) - The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is interested in continued cooperation with Russia on human spaceflight and the building of satellites, Roscosmos press secretary Vladimir Ustimenko said.
"Dmitry Olegovich's [Rogozin, the Roscosmos CEO] Middle Eastern tour was quite productive, and the parties discussed a lot of various aspects of cooperation, including on human spaceflight programs. The UAE also voiced its interest in continuing the work with us under the human spaceflight program," Ustimenko said in reply to question from Interfax.
"They are interested in cooperation not only on human spaceflight but also on building satellites and providing the entire range of ground space services," Ustimenko said.
Roscosmos's international cooperation department and some of its subsidiaries are currently "working on a number of interesting proposals," he said.
A UAE astronaut is set to go to the ISS in September 2019. At the present time, two UAE astronauts are undergoing training at Russia's cosmonaut training center in Star City outside Moscow.
Roscosmos CEO Dmitry Rogozin had said earlier that the UAE could invest in the modernization of Site No. 1 (Gagarin's Start) at the Baikonur Cosmodrome. Kazakhstan might also be involved in the project.
The Kazakh Ministry of Digital Development, Defense and Aerospace Industry said on Tuesday a decision on setting up a joint venture with Russia and the UAE would be made before the end of March 2019.
Site No.1, known also as Gagarin's Start, is the launch pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome from which a Vostok spacecraft with the first cosmonaut, Yury Gagarin, on board was launched into space on April 12, 1961.
Some reports in 2018 suggested that Gagarin's Start could be mothballed.