Media: RSC “Energia” takes “Sea Launch” from the Pacific Ocean to the Crimea – RIA Novosti

MOSCOW, June 6 – RIA Novosti. head of the Russian Rocket and Space Corporation “Energia” Vitaly Lopota planned to relocate the floating cosmodrome “Sea Launch” from California to the shores of the Crimea, wrote in a Friday newspaper “Izvestia” , citing a source close to the leadership of RSC.

International Consortium “Sea Launch” was created in 1995, 95% of its shares are owned by Energia Overseas Limited, “granddaughter” RSC “Energia”. This is the first in the history of international commercial project space rocket complex ocean-based, it provides services for spacecraft launch from a floating platform, which is based off the coast of the Pacific, California. Most satellites into geostationary orbit from the equatorial zone of the Pacific Ocean.

According to the publication, in the Crimea Lopota also plans to create an infrastructure for maintenance of the complex. “On the part of Russian industry in the Crimea promised investments, which, according to Lopota, could be directed at creating a database service for” Sea Launch “- the newspaper said. According to experts Roscosmos, write” News “, to create the necessary infrastructure in the new port-based “Sea Launch” require $ 1 billion.

Lopota himself refused to publish comments on this topic, noting that officially it is not made out of such a proposal.

Relocate “Sea Launch” of California offer is not the first time: even in 2013, the leadership of Roscosmos (profile control and managing state property in the space industry) decided that the service platform in the United States limits its use in the interests of Russia, and put forward the idea to translate complex SovGavan or Vladivostok to Russian Far East Fleet bases – but the government did not support this initiative. in March to Russia entered Sevastopol (the base of the Russian Black Sea Fleet) and the Republic of Crimea.

At the end of May “Kommersant” wrote that Roscosmos had planned to check RSC “Energia” (38% owned by the state). As explained on Friday, “Izvestia”, citing the head of Roscosmos Oleg Ostapenko, this time to check the “Sea Launch” will not, as a commercial project, “Energy”, and verification seeks to assess the production capacity of the enterprise.

In April, Russia’s Investigative Committee – on the basis of previous test Roscosmos RSC “Energia” – filed a case against Lopota Abuse powers in granting loans to companies involved in the project “Sea Launch”, the investigators estimated the damage at 41 million rubles (1 $ 2 million).

How Crimea became part of Russia

Crimea did not recognize the legitimacy of the new Ukrainian government and decided to hold a referendum about the future of the region. Voting took place on March 16. The ballot paper were made two questions: “Are you for the reunion of the Crimea with Russia on the Rights of the Russian Federation?” and “Are you for the restoration of the constitution of the Republic of Crimea in 1992 and for the status of the Crimea as part of Ukraine?”.

Most voters (96.77%) with a turnout of 83.1% voted for reunification with Russia. The corresponding agreement was signed on March 18, he was subsequently endorsed Duma and the Federation Council. They also adopted the federal constitutional law on the formation of two new subjects of the Russian Federation – Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol city of federal significance. Russian President Vladimir Putin signed both documents. Putin has also previously stated that the referendum in the Crimea consistent with international law and the UN Charter.