Red tape delays construction of new spaceport in Russia

The backlog in the construction of Vostochny Cosmodrome ("Eastern") in the Amur region of Russia makes up two months, deputy director of Special Construction Minister Alexander Busygin said Tuesday.

Meanwhile, in spite of the fact that a huge amount of work has already been done and there are considerable human resources concentrated on the object, the construction of the spaceport lags behind schedule.

Busygin named two objective reasons for that. According to the official, Roscosmos provided documentation for the construction of the cosmodrome later than was required. In addition, the questions regarding pricing during the construction had not been settled either. 

As noted, the new spaceport will be handed over to the customer on time. The first rocket launch from Vostochny Cosmodrome is to be conducted in 2015, the official said.

The cosmodrome is being built in the Amur region, near the closed town of Uglegorsk.