Russia to Call Tender for 2nd Phase of Vostochny Spaceport Construction in Fall

Russia’s state space corporation Roscosmos plans to call an open tender for the second stage of the Vostochny Cosmodrome construction in autumn 2017, in the light of abolition of the Federal Agency for Special Construction (Spetsstroy), the Izvestia newspaper reported Monday citing its sources.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – In late December, Spetsstroy, which had been constructing the cosmodrome, was abolished.

According to the newspaper, the second stage includes the construction of the launching site for the Angara space-launch vehicles and other infrastructure.

"Any Russian development company will be able to take part in the tender, including Spetsstroy divisions, if they are able to incorporate as separate entities as a result of the reorganization of the agency," a source told the news outlet.

The work on the project documentation for the construction of the second part of the cosmodrome's facilities is at the final stage, and it will be sent for the state expert review in May, the publication reads.

Vostochny has been under construction in Russia's Far East since 2012 and is expected to reduce Russia's dependency on the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan, which is on lease to Russia until 2050. Russia carried out a maiden space launch from the Vostochny Cosmodrome on April 28. It involved a Soyuz-2.1, a light class space rocket with three research satellites.

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