The Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center also built KazSat-1, which was launched June 18 from the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan. Before the launch, the Russian and Kazakh presidents discussed building KazSat-2.
Alexander Bobrenov said the KazSat-2 satellite would be built by Khrunichev experts in cooperation with Russian and foreign companies, including the Russian Institute of Space Device Engineering, Kosmicheskaya Svyaz, and European company Alcatel Alenia Space.
Vladimir Nesterov, the Khrunichev center's general director, said: "Work on building the second, significantly improved satellite for Kazakhstan's communications systems is much more complex, but within the capabilities of our specialists and our corporation."
Work on KazSat-2 will be completed within the next two years, and the launch is scheduled for 2009.
