On November 6, 2007, President Vladimir Putin signed a decree announcing the construction of the Vostochny space centre in place of the Svobodny space centre, which was recently shut down in Russia's Amur Region. The new space centre, intended to facilitate independent manned missions, will cover an area of more than 600 square kilometres, including its entire infrastructure and launch pads.
On August 28, 2010, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin visited the future construction site at the former Svobodny space centre and unveiled a cornerstone officially marking its initial construction. However, officials say the project will not get underway until July 2011. The two-pad launch facility is to be completed by 2016, and the first manned spacecraft is scheduled to lift off in 2018. There are plans to launch 45% of Russian rockets from Vostochny by 2020. All launches will use the Rus-M rocket, currently on the drawing board. The Federal Space Agency estimates construction costs at 400 billion roubles.
China is to commission its fourth Wenchang Space Centre on Hainan Island in 2014. Construction of this space centre was launched in 2009. The new facility will have two launch pads and is to replace the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre. It will launch Chinese geostationary satellites using ChangZheng rockets.
The new space centre will be located close to the equator and will launch heavier payloads using the Earth's centrifugal rotation. Transport costs will be reduced by delivering spacecraft to the centre aboard ships. The space centre, along with a theme park for tourists, will cost an estimated $1.8 billion.
