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Voice of America is reporting the story about the Russians and French...
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France, Russia Sign Agreement On Rocket Launches
VOA News
07 Nov 2003, 23:28 UTC

France and Russia have signed an agreement calling for the launch of Russian Soyuz-class rockets from the Kourou space center in French Guiana.
The agreement, which gives Russia access to the European space center, was signed Friday in Paris by French Prime Minister Pierre Raffarin and Russian Deputy Prime Minister Boris Alyoshin.

Starsem, the Russian-European company that operates Soyuz rockets, says Kourou's location near the equator helps reduce fuel consumption and, therefore, mission costs once the rockets fly into space.

The parties agreed to build a launching pad for Soyuz rockets, which will then be used to launch commercial satellites into space. Russia's official ITAR-TASS news agency quoted an official as saying the first Soyuz launch from Kourou will take place in 2006.

Soyuz rockets currently lift off from the Baikonour space port in the former Soviet republic of Kazakhstan.