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Sea Launch maritime launch platform to move from US to Russia’s Far East

Credit: Ramil Sitdikov | RIAN

The floating rocket-launch platform Sea Launch will be relocated from California to Russia’s Primorye Territory. The system, used for launching commercial payloads, has been stripped of foreign equipment including Boeing communication devices and is now ready for transportation.

Since 2018, Sea Launch has been owned by the private Russian airline and aerospace company S7 Group, which also purchased Sea Launch Commander ship and the Odyssey platform.

The options for the Sea Launch system’s relocation have been considered since 2013, with Crimea and Vietnam as other possible destinations. General Director of Russia’s state-owned Roscosmos State Corporation Dmitry Rogozin has announced that the mobile platform will move to Bolshoi Kamen Bay near Vladivostok.

Sea Launch has not been used to launch satellites since 2014, when the joint venture had to put its operations on hold in due to halting production of Ukrainian-made rockets.

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