MOSCOW, July 7 (RIA Novosti) - The first launch of the Angara launch vehicle with a payload is scheduled for 2008 from the Baikonur space center's Baiterek launch complex in Kazakhstan, complex general director Talgat Musabayev told a Moscow news conference on Thursday.
"We should try to launch Angara in 2008," he said. Musabayev said Kazakhstan and Russia had each allocated $223 million for the construction of the Baiterek complex.
Musabayev said Angara was unlikely to be launched from the Plesetsk space center in Russia, as the construction of a launch complex there had started in 2000 but it was still far from complete. He said the leaders of Russia and Kazakhstan had set tougher timeframes for the construction of the Baiterek complex.
"We must try to launch a new launch vehicle with payload in 2008. We will do everything to do this, even though there have been many unforeseen circumstances," Musabayev said.
