RDIF to invest $87 mln in modernizing Baikonur spaceport

The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) will invest $87 million in modernizing infrastructure at the Baikonur spaceport together with Middle Eastern investors, GK Launch Services and with the support of Russia's Roscosmos space corporation. 

RDIF CEO Kirill Dmitriev announced the deal at the meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and RDIF's International Advisory Board.

The corresponding documents were signed on yesterday at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.

"The project envisages modernization of the spaceport's launch site No 1 (Gagarin's Start) and its further use for launching Soyuz-2 carrier rockets," TASS cited the RDIF press release as saying.

RDIF and its partners' investment will allow to modernize the ground infrastructure of the largest spaceport in the world, increase competitiveness of the Russian space industry on the global market of space launch services and commercialize the best Russian space technologies.