Russian space agency Roscosmos expects the construction of the Vostochny Cosmodrome to be completed by the end of 2016, Roscosmos General Director Igor Komarov said Friday.

"We must solve all remaining issues in the nearest future to accelerate the completion of construction and finish it by year-end," Komarov told Rossiya-24.

Vostochny, which has been under construction since 2012, is expected to reduce Russia's dependency on the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan. Baikonur is on lease to Russia until 2050.

In April, Russia successfully conducted the first launch from the newly-built Vostochny space center, putting three satellites aboard a Soyuz-2.1a carrier rocket to orbit.

Russia's Roscosmos Sets November 23 for Proton Rocket Launch With US Satellite
Russia's Roscosmos space corporation has set November 23 as the launch date for a Proton carrier rocket with a US telecommunications satellite, the corporation's schedule published on Thursday stated.

"The launch of the EchoStar-21 unmanned spacecraft on the Proton-M launch vehicle with the Briz-M upper stage is scheduled from Baikonur on November 23," the schedule states.

EchoStar 21, built by Space Systems/Loral with estimated operational life of 15 years, is expected to extend constellation of Echostar satellites and will provide 2 GHz mobile voice and data communications utilizing S-band transponders mainly with European coverage.

Source: Sputnik News