Space rip-off for 19.5 billion
The Baiterek rocket program budget request is about 19.5 billion tenge. But there’s a catch.
About 19.5 billion tenge is being requested for the budget program for the Baiterek rocket complex.
Baiterek is a joint project between Kazakhstan and Russia to create and launch spacecraft.
In 2023, 6.3 billion tenge was already allocated for this, and for 2025, an additional 13.2 billion tenge is being requested.
According to official information, the funds are intended for the development and maintenance of the aerospace industry, with the goal of achieving 25.8% completion of the rocket complex by 2024.
According to authorities, the expenditures were directed towards modernizing the existing Zenit-M space rocket complex for launching a new generation of rockets that will carry out unmanned space programs.
But here's one catch. Components for the Zenit rocket complexes were manufactured at the Yuzhmash plant in Dnipro. On July 26, 2022, as a result of Russian missile strikes, the plant's production workshops and infrastructure were destroyed.
The question for the Ministry of Digital Development, Innovations and Aerospace Industry (MDDIAI) is: what rockets do you plan to launch and where will you get the components?
Comments ()