Putin hails first rocket launch after delay
VOSTOCHNY, Russia: Russia launched the first rocket from its new Vostochny cosmodrome yesterday, with President Vladimir Putin hailing the event after dressing down officials over a delay caused by a technical glitch.
The launch is a major milestone for Russia’s beleaguered space sector, with the new spaceport in the far east of the country touted to mark a rebirth of an industry plagued by a string of embarrassments in recent years.
The Soyuz 2.1a rocket carrying three satellites took off at 11:01 am (0201 GMT), the Roscosmos national space agency said in a statement, after the countdown was automatically halted for technical reasons 24 hours previously.
National television showed the Soyuz 2.1a taking off into a blue sky in light winds, although foreign media organisations including AFP were not allowed to enter the new space centre.
Putin was present for the takeoff.
“You know they say that the proof of the pudding is in the eating. You have to make the first launch to confirm the cosmo drome is ready for work. And you did it!” Putin told industry officials.
“I want to congratulate you. We can be proud. It’s a serious and important contribution to the development of the Russian space industry,” he added.
“Yesterday the technical side was put to the test and the launch had to be stopped, but it happens. It’s a normal thing.”
ThepostponementofVostochny’s inaugural launch had seen the Russian strongman scold space chiefs – despite delays worldwide being relatively frequent.
A European launch from French Guiana had to be put off three times last week before finally taking place on Monday.
The Russian delay was due to a malfunction of a cable, a space agency spokesman, Mikhail Fadeyev, told AFP.
Construction on the new spaceport began in 2012 but has been marred by a string of labour disputes, corruption scandals and delays. The first satellite launch had been scheduled for late 2015, but setbacks forced authorities to review the timetable.
“Despite all its failings, Russia remains the world leader in the number of space launches,” Putin told a meeting of space officials on Wednesday.
“But the fact that we’re encountering a large number of failures is bad. There must be a timely and professional reaction.”
The new spaceport in the far eastern Amur region has been hailed by Putin as Russia’s biggest current building project with a budget estimated at 300 billion-400 billion rubles (US$4.5 billion–US$6 billion, four billion5.3 billion euros).
Some 10,000 workers have been building 115 kilometres of roads in the immense, sparsely populated region, as well as 125 kilometres of railways and a town with housing for 25,000 people.
The Kremlin’s goal is to ease Russia’s dependence on Baikonur in Kazakhstan, a launch pad Moscow has been forced to rent at a cost of 115 million a year since the collapse of the Soviet Union. — AFP