A Russian launch pad is currently being built at the Kourou space center in French Guiana as part of a recent contract between Roscosmos and Arianespace.
"The Russian team of specialists will arrive at Kourou in August. The construction work for a launch pad for Soyuz rockets that the French side was to carry out has been completed," Jean-Yves Le Galle said.
The Kourou launch site is intended mainly for the launch of geostationary satellites. Its close proximity to the equator will enable the Soyuz-ST to put into orbit heavier satellites than from Baikonur in Kazakhstan and Plesetsk in northern Russia.
Under a contract signed last June with Arianespace, the Soyuz will have a separate launch pad near Sinnamari, a village 10 kilometers (six miles) north of the site used for the Ariane-5, the main European-made booster.
Launches of Soyuz spacecraft are a key part of the Russian-French space exploration program.
