The Russian government will foot the 600 million rubles (20 million dollars) bill to destroy the aging Mir space station, a space construction company chief said Tuesday.
Yury Seminov, president of the Russian company RKK Energuia whose company is in charge of technical operations aboard Mir, said the government would pay for the station's destruction, Itar-Tass news agency reported.
The Russian government will destroy the 14-year-old station in February 2001, Deputy Prime Minister Ilya Klebanov said Monday.
Mir will begin a controlled descent into the Earth's atmosphere, causing much of the 130-tonne vessel to burn up on re-entry.
The rest will plunge into a pre-determined spot in the Pacific Ocean.
Russia can no longer afford to keep the station operational. To do so would cost about 70 million dollars in 2001, rising to 125 million dollars in 2002.
Russia is already struggling to meet its financial commitments to the International Space Station, a project backed by 16 nations which is due for completion by 2005 -- MOSCOW (AFP)
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