The Russian government has given permission to the defense ministry to launch three foreign satellites from its Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on a contractual basis, the government press service said Monday.
A Proton-M rocket will blast off from Baikonur to put into orbit Malaysia’s Measat-3 and Canada’s Anik-F1P telecommunications satellites.
A US Galaxy-14 telecommunications satellite will also be launched from the base on a Soyuz-FG rocket, the press service said.
The Federal Customs Service has been asked to give clearance to the satellites and ancillary equipment that will temporarily enter the Russian territory “with full exemption from customs duties, taxes and without the use of economic bans and restrictions,” the press service said.
Foreign specialists are also allowed to visit the defense ministry’s facilities where preparations for launching the satellites are now underway.
Earlier this year, the government authorized the ministry to use space and defense facilities at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome for launching research satellites for Britain, Iran, Norway, Germany, Japan and the European Space Agency.
