Angara Rocket Manufacturer Not Notified About Termination Of Contract With South Korea

The manufacturer of the Angara-1.2 rocket, Russia's Khrunichev Center, did not receive notifications about the termination of the contract for the launch of a South Korean satellite, the company's CEO, Alexey Varochko, told Sputnik

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 01st February, 2023) The manufacturer of the Angara-1.2 rocket, Russia's Khrunichev Center, did not receive notifications about the termination of the contract for the launch of a South Korean satellite, the company's CEO, Alexey Varochko, told Sputnik.

Earlier, the Yonhap agency reported citing the South Korean Ministry of Science and ICT that Seoul had decided to launch its multi-purpose satellite Arirang 6 using the European Vega-C launch vehicle instead of Angara-1.2, and the contract with Russia was terminated due to international sanctions.

"The Khrunichev Center participates in the project under a subcontract with ILS. All the requirements of South Korea under the contract for the launch of the KOMPSAT-6 satellite on the Angara-1.2 launch vehicle have been fulfilled by the Khrunichev Center. In addition, to date, the contract and subcontract for launch services for the launch of KOMPSAT-6 are operational. We have not received notification from the launch customer about the termination of the contract," Varochko said.

He explained that Korea had no direct agreements with Russia to launch a spacecraft. The launch customer is the Korean Aerospace Research Institute (KARI), which in 2016 signed a contract for launch on Angara-1.2 with ILS, which is a subsidiary of the Khrunichev Center in the USA.

In addition, according to Varochko, the US Department of Commerce's license to export KOMPSAT-6 to Russia has been suspended. Therefore, a satellite cannot be imported to prepare and conduct a launch. The period of suspension of the license is not defined, he specified.

"This fact once again confirms the impact of sanctions on the economies of those countries that have joined it, and international cooperation in space in general. But we continue to consider possible ways to continue cooperation, taking into account the realities and specifics of the modern world," Varochko added.