Kazakhstan: Baikonur launch site may be open to Western countries

Western countries may have the chance to use the Baikonur Space Center in Kazakhstan for space missions, the country's National Space Agency says. Many Western countries and former Soviet states have expressed interest in using the space center, currently rented to Russia until 2050, Kazcosmos officials were quoted as saying by the Tengrinews.kz news website. "Although the cosmodrome is being rented out to Russia, we don't rule out that we could work jointly with Western countries if it is economically viable," officials told the website. Russia, which has rented the space center from Kazakhstan since 1994 at an annual fee of $115 million, is expected to complete the construction of the Vostochnyi cosmodrome in its own territory by 2015.