(12 Oct. 2008) --- The Soyuz TMA-13 spacecraft launches from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Oct. 12, 2008 carrying a new crew to the International Space Station (ISS). The Soyuz lifted off at 2:01 a.m. (CDT) with NASA astronaut Michael Fincke, Expedition 18 commander; Russian Federal Space Agency cosmonaut Yury Lonchakov, Soyuz commander and Expedition 18 flight engineer; and American spaceflight participant Richard Garriott. The three crewmembers are scheduled to dock with the ISS on Oct. 14. Fincke and Lonchakov will spend six months on the station, while Garriott will return to Earth Oct. 24 with two of the Expedition 17 crewmembers currently on the orbital complex. Photo Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls
Russia Plans Over $50 Billion In Space Spending By 2020, Eyes Space Weapon Deterrent By 2030 -- Endgadget
We've already seen the Obama administration announce its latest budget for NASA this week, and now President Vladimir Putin has announced that Russia will be spending more than $50 billion on its space-related efforts by 2020. The most immediate result of that will be the completion of the Vostochny Cosmodrome near Russia's border with China, which Putin says is still on track to see its first rocket launch as soon as 2015 and its first manned launch in 2018. With NASA decommissioning its shuttle program, all manned space launches currently take place at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan (as pictured above), and Putin says the new launch base will also be open for other countries to use.
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More News On Putin's Commitment To Russia's Space Program
Putin Builds Space-Arms Defense as Russia Targets Mars, Moon -- Bloomberg
Russian space industry to get $52bn investment, possibly own ministry -- RT
Russia unveils $50B drive for space supremacy -- Washington Times
Putin says Russia to launch first manned space flight from its soil in 2018 -- Reuters
Russia's Putin Announces $50 Billion In New Space Spending -- NPR
Russia Is Investing $50 Billion In Its (Very Ambitious) Space Program -- Popular Science