The commercial launch of Soyuz vehicles by Starsem, from the Kourou, French Guiana, launch site is being held up by Russia's failure to meet three conditions set by the French Government, according to France's science ministry.
Russia needs to provide funds to build a $250 million Soyuz launch pad at Kourou, confirm Starsem's exclusive rights to all Soyuz commercial derivatives and decrease the commercial cost of a launch from $20 million to $12 million before Soyuz launches can proceed.
The exclusive rights condition could be hard to meet, however, as Russian/Australian venture the Asia Pacific Space Centre has proposed using its Soyuz-derived Aurora booster for commercial launches from Christmas Island in the Pacific.
There are concerns in Europe about the effect commercial Soyuz launches from Kourou would have on the European Space Agency's (ESA) Vega low Earth orbit booster, which is under development.
Meanwhile, the French Government has agreed in principle to allow Arianespace to take over full responsibility for all marketing and launch operations at Kourou. The plan will be discussed at this month's ESA Council meeting in Edinburgh, Scotland.
Source: Flight International
