Kazakhstan Ends Space Launch Ban

Kazakhstan lifted a ban Wednesday on launches from Russia’s main space center, ending a standoff between the former Soviet republics that threatened to force the crew of the Mir space station to abandon ship early.

Russia had warned that unless a Progress cargo ship was permitted to blast off from the facility in Kazakhstan by the end of the week, Mir would run out of food and water and the three-man crew would be forced to return to Earth.

The Progress also was scheduled to deliver fuel and navigation equipment needed to control the space station’s descent when it is abandoned and allowed to crash back to Earth, probably before the end of the year.

After days of negotiations, the two sides reached a compromise including a schedule for Russia to pay the $115 million it owes this year in rent for the space station.

Officials indicated that the Progress launch, originally scheduled for Wednesday, would now probably take place Friday or Sunday--the day the launch window closes.

Kazakhstan imposed the launch ban July 6, a day after a Russian Proton rocket carrying a communications satellite exploded after liftoff, spewing twisted metal and tons of toxic rocket fuel across the Kazakh desert.

TV footage showed hundreds of acres of grassland burning and a huge chunk of metal in a farmer’s backyard. Kazakh officials accused Russia of callously polluting the environment.

Russian officials pledged to pay the farmer $1,000 and offered compensation to others affected.

“If problems arise as a result of any launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, regardless of whether [the launch] is insured or not, the Russian side is under obligation to compensate any third party for damages incurred,” said Yuri N. Koptev, director of the Russian Space Agency.

The Baikonur Cosmodrome was built in Soviet times. Russia has continued to operate the space center under an agreement with Kazakhstan, which gained independence after the Soviet Union collapsed. Until this year, Russia paid the annual rent of $115 million by forgiving Kazakhstan’s debts. This was the first year money was to change hands, but Russia’s financial crisis has drained the federal budget of cash.

This week, the government-sponsored Russian newspaper Izvestia reported that Kazakhstan’s debts to Moscow for oil and gas total more than $400 million.

Nonetheless, Russia agreed Wednesday to pay $50 million in cash installments to Kazakhstan, starting next month. The remaining $65 million will be delivered next year in the form of food and merchandise.

In return, as long as Russia provides timely advance warning of launches, Kazakhstan will not impose a rigid notification system.

NASA has been urging Russia to abandon Mir, which has been orbiting Earth for more than 13 years, and to concentrate on building the new international space station. But Russia would prefer to keep Mir--its biggest and longest-running space success--flying as long as possible.

The launch dispute distracted attention from the latest news of trouble on board the station: a small air leak in a module that the crew has been unable to pinpoint.

Russian space officials said that even if the crew took no action, the station would not reach a critical stage until September, and the leaky module can be sealed off from the rest of the station before then.

The Mir’s current crew consists of one French astronaut and two Russian cosmonauts.