Kazakhstan Intends to Have Navigation Satellites by 2008

Kazakhstan intends to have by 2008 seven satellites integrated into the Russian satellite navigation system Glonass, Prime Minister Danial Akhmetov said at a meeting of the Kazakh government in the end of 2006.

According to the prime minister, it will make Kazakhstan "an undoubted leader in this field" in the region. "The development of the national satellite system means the development of space science as a whole," Akhmetov noted.

At present Kazakhstan has a satellite "KazSat" which was created at the Russian Khrunichev Centre. The creation and launch of a satellite of its own enables Kazakhstan to ensure information independence and form a single information space. The time of active work of the national satellite weighing about a tonne is 12-15 years. The cost of the project is 65 million dollars.

In September, the Khrunichev Centre won a tender for creating a second Kazakh communication satellite "KazSat-2." The cost of the project is 115 million dollars.