MOSCOW. April 14 (Interfax-AVN) - The Svobodny cosmodrome in the Russian Far East has a special role in guaranteeing Russia's free access to space, Commander of the Space Troops Anatoly Perminov said on Monday.
"The Svobodny cosmodrome has a future. Its geographical position makes it possible to put spacecraft in various orbits and test promising rocket and space assets. At the same time, the cost of orbiting a kilogram of payload from Svobodny is comparable to that for the Baikonur cosmodrome and much lower than that for the Plesetsk cosmodrome," Perminov told Interfax- Military News Agency.
Successful spacecraft launches from the Start-1 rocket launcher have proven that the concept of the cosmodrome is correct, he stressed.
Perminov said that tests of the launcher's components are underway. Moreover, construction of a launcher for Strela light carrier rocket has started at Svobodny. The launcher will pit in orbit various military spacecraft.
Svobodny's role will continue to grow in the future, Perminov said.
"The Russian president has assigned us the mission to create the required technical backlog for deploying launchers for medium and heavy space rockets at Svobodny over the next few years. Creation of such launchers will open new possibilities for direct launches of spacecraft from the Russian territory and their putting in low-latitude, polar, and solar-synchronized orbits," the commander said.