MOSCOW, December 4 (RIA Novosti) – Russian prosecutors said Wednesday that a probe revealed environmental, labor and building violations in the construction of what is slated to become the country's main space launch site.
The far-eastern Vostochny cosmodrome, to take the bulk of Russian space launches from Kazakhstan’s Baikonur, experienced the numerous violations due to the work of construction companies, the Prosecutor General’s Office said Wednesday, without elaborating.
Earlier, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin harshly criticized the slow progress in the construction of Vostochny, scheduled to launch its first carrier rocket in 2015.
The cosmodrome is intended to host 45 percent of Russia’s space launches and all its manned flights as of the year 2020, according to the federal space agency, Roscosmos.
Baikonur’s share of Russian space launches is expected to fall from 65 percent to 11 percent, with the remainder of launches taking place at the Plesetsk space center in Russia’s north.
