STATUS OF COSMODROME INFRASTRUCTURE

After several years of uncertainty over the status of the Baykonur cosmodrome, the Russian and Kazakh governments agreed in December 1994 that Russia would lease the cosmodrome for 20 years for an annual rent of $115 million. Several months earlier the Russian government had issued a decree calling for the Military Space Forces to transfer authority over a large part of its facilities to the Russian Space Agency. This included all the Energiya-Buran facilities, authority over which was divided by the agency among several design bureaus. While some of the Energiya – Buran facilities stand rusting in the steppes without any prospects for future use, others have been modified for other programs and are once again buzzing with activity.