Russia is to build a space launch pad in South Korea by 2007, Itar-Tass news agency reported Wednesday, quoting Vyacheslav Davidenko, a spokesman for the Russian space agency Roskosmos. A contract covering "construction of a rocket launch pad for civilian use and space exploration" was signed by both countries, the spokesman was quoted as saying.
Khrunichev, a Russian space group that is to participate in the project, agreed in September to help South Korea build its first space rocket, and Russia also plans to launch a South Korean cosmonaut into space by 2007.
Approval to carry a South Korean to the International Space Station aboard a Soyuz rocket must nonetheless be approved by the ISS' 16 partners, including NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA).
