According to Martynov, the Federal Space Agency considers this timeframe "not as the term that should be met, but as the term that we will reduce." He noted that "the working schedule to improve the reliable functioning of the satellite on the orbit was made up."

"We are considering all possibilities to reduce the terms of the launch, but without detriment to the quality," the Federal Space Agency official emphasized.

The launches of Kazakh telecommunications satellites KazSat, and KazSat-2 in 2006, and the use of the space monitoring system for the prospecting of hydrocarbon deposits in the Caspian shelf, were discussed at a meeting of Kazakh Prime Minister Danial Akhmetov and head of the Federal Space Agency, Anatoly Perminov, on January 25.

On Wednesday in Petersburg, presidents of Russia and Kazakhstan, Vladimir Putin and Nursultan Nazarbayev, stressed the efficient Russian-Kazakh cooperation in the implementation of space projects.

"Kazakhstan is planning to launch four communications satellites and four earth distant probing satellites jointly with Russia before 2011-2012," chairman of the national company Kazcosmos board, Serik Turzhanov, said. "We are planning to invest in this field about 400 million dollars for the next 2-3 years," he pointed out.

Russia and Kazakhstan are also creating the rocket-and-space complex Baiterek at the Baikonur spaceport.

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