"I know nothing about these plans," spokesman Alexei Kuznetsov said. "The space center is working, and launches take place."

Media reports on Monday cited an anonymous executive source as saying that plans allegedly existed to close the space center by 2009 due to an end to state financing.

A mobile launcher for the Start-1 light carrier rocket is based at Svobodny, which has existed since 1997 and a promising launch pad is being built there for Strela light carrier rockets on the instructions of the government.

Svobodny's low latitude means the mass of cargoes put into geostationary orbit can be increased by 25% in comparison with the Plesetsk space center in the north of European Russia. In addition, the trajectories of the carriers do not traverse foreign states' territories.

The world's first and Russia's biggest space center, Baikonur, became part of Kazakhstan after the collapse of the Soviet Union, which means it is leased by Russia. More than 1,200 carrier rockets have been launched from there as part of state space programs and international cooperation.

The Plesetsk space center is located in the Arkhangelsk region. As the world's northernmost center, it can put spacecraft into highly inclined orbits. More than 1,500 launches have been made from Plesetsk.

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