MOSCOW. Feb 4 (Interfax-AVN) - There are plans to provide additional 5.76 billion Russian rubles ($206 million) for the construction of the launch system for the Angara vehicle at the Plesetsk spaceport before 2007, a source in the Russian defense industry told Interfax-Military News Agency Friday.
According to him, a total of 1.39 billion rubles ($49.6 million) have been allocated for the purpose in 2002-2004, which is 19.4 percent of the whole money required for the construction.
He added that the work at 188 construction facilities of the launch site would continue in 2005, including at 20 major ones.
"There are plans to complete the construction at major facilities of the universal launch system, and mount specialized equipment too," he said.
Moreover, it is also in plans to provide water supply and put into operation a boiler to ensure heat supplies to all the facilities of the launch site.
"Also, the work on electric power supply will commence, and specialized equipment will be mounted in the facilities of the launch system," he said.
The first launch of Angara is scheduled for late 2006. The new vehicle will allow launching all types of satellites from the territory of Plesetsk spaceport, including heavy ones that are currently launched from Baikonur.
The Angara launch vehicle features modular design and will have three configurations, namely light, medium and heavy ones. The RD-191 engine to propel the vehicle will be unified for all of them. Light class rockets will have one such engine, while medium class ones will have two or three and the heavy vehicles will incorporate five engines. Angara is intended to replace existing Proton-K and Proton-M launch vehicles.