One of Russia’s most important projects over the last 15 years has been the construction of the Vostochny spaceport as the country seeks to fly its rockets from native soil and modernize its launch operations.
However, the initiative has been a fiasco from the start. After construction began in 2011, the project was beset by hunger strikes, claims of unpaid workers, and the theft of $126 million. Additionally, a man driving a diamond-encrusted Mercedes was arrested after embezzling $75,000. Five years ago, there was another purge of top officials after another round of corruption.
Through it all, there has been some progress. In 2016, a Soyuz-2 rocket launched from the first pad, “1S.” And eight years later, a second pad, “1A,” opened with a successful Angara rocket launch. Eventually, the Russian space corporation, Roscosmos, would like to operate seven launch pads at the Vostochny in the far eastern area of Russia, so development work continues.
And therein lie the current problems.
Turn out the lights
The latest bit of skullduggery involves the non-payment of sizable electric bills by the primary contractor building the spaceport, the Kazan Open Stock Company (PSO Kazan).
According to the Moscow Times, the Far Eastern Energy Company cut off electricity supplies to the areas of the spaceport still under construction after PSO Kazan racked up $627,000 in unpaid energy charges. The electricity company did so, it said, “to protect the interests of the region’s energy system.” (Rob Mitchell translated this Russian-language article for Ars).
The energy company also intends to file a lawsuit against PSO Kazan to declare the entity bankrupt. “The energy supplier emphasizes that it has repeatedly appealed to the management of the debtor company, demanding that the full amount of the debt be paid, but the builders did not react to these demands,” the Moscow Times reported. “In the absence of full payment of the debt, the restrictive measures will be strengthened.”
The operator of the Vostochny facility said the spaceport’s two active launch pads have not been affected by the dispute. Officials with the spaceport also said PSO Kazan would repay its debt by the end of November. (Probably best not to hold one’s breath).