Space launch pad in French Guiana (file photo) (official site)
February 27, 2007 -- Construction has begun on a new launch base for Russian rockets on the north coast of South America.
Anatoly Perminov and Jean-Jacques Dordain, the heads of the Russian and European space agencies, were among those attending the February 26 ceremony in French Guiana, on the Atlantic Ocean coast.
The first Soyuz spacecraft are due to take off from the site at the end of 2008.
(AFP, AP)
RFE/RL Russia Report
RFE/RL Russia Report