Sea Launch command ship and launch platform Odyssey require standard repair worth up to 1.5 trillion rubles ($19.3 billion), member of Russian Military-Industrial Commission's Board Alexander Ivanov told Sputnik
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 06th November, 2020) Sea Launch command ship and launch platform Odyssey require standard repair worth up to 1.5 trillion rubles ($19.3 billion), member of Russian Military-Industrial Commission's board Alexander Ivanov told Sputnik.
In 2016, multinational complex Sea Launch was acquired by Russia's S7 group of companies for $150 million. In 2020, the facility was relocated from the United States to the Russian Far Eastern port of Slavyanka. Ivanov has headed Russia's governmental expert group, formed to assess the state of the Sea Launch complex and suggest the measures necessary for its repair.
"There have been lots of rumors in the media that the ship and the platform are in poor condition and that Americans have dismantled everything they could. We went to Slavyanka [and] evaluated it. We were accompanied by shipbuilders. In their opinion, the complex requires standard repair worth from 1-1.5 trillion rubles. After it, they will be ready to operate further," Ivanov said.
Sea Launch project was founded in 1995 by Russia, Norway, Ukraine and the US to organize equatorial rocket launches of the Ukrainian Zenit rockets. In 2014, after the start of the crisis in Ukraine, the operation of the facility was suspended due to Kiev's refusal to deliver Zenit rockets to the Russian side. In August, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borisov said that Sea Launch might again be in operation from 2023 or 2024, after it was repaired.
