Russia, Arianespace link up on rocket launcher

MOSCOW, March 30 (AFP) – The Russian Space Agency and European rocket launch company Arianespace are to sign a deal on April 11 to build a launch complex for Russian rockets at the Kourou site in French Guiana, Russian agency head Anatoly Perminov told Interfax late Tuesday.

Earlier this month, French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin presided over the signature of four agreements also relating to the future launch of Soyuz rockets from the European space centre in Kourou.

This will require building a new launch pad at the Kourou base, worth EUR 344 million (USD 444 million), of which the European Space Agency will provide EUR 223 million, and the European Investment Bank will provide EUR 121 million in the form of a loan.

The first Soyuz rockets are expected to be launched from Kourou in early 2008.

The initial agreement for this was reached after the Russian and European space agencies signed a partnership deal last January, following a French-Russian intergovernmental agreement in late 2003.