Kazakhstan intends to acquire 33% stakes...
The head of Kazakh space agency Kazcosmos, Talgat Musabayev, told a session of parliament that the issue of Kazakhstan"s equal participation in commercial space projects must be resolved as soon as possible to prevent the country being pushed from lucrative space launch markets by foreign competitors.
"This political issue was discussed on Wednesday by [Ukrainian President Viktor] Yanukovych and [Kazakh President Nursultan] Nazarbayev, and we will make sure that we have an equal 33% share in these projects with Russia and Ukraine," Musabayev said.
Russian-Ukrainian joint venture Kosmotras converts RS-20 (SS-18 Satan) ICBMs, scrapped by Russia"s Strategic Missile Forces, into Dnepr carrier rockets and prepares them for space launches from Baikonur.
"We have made the first steps to participate in this joint venture and bought 10% of the shares. We will continue to increase our share until we achieve parity in ownership," Musabayev said.