The commander of Russia's Space Troops, Lieutenant General Anatolii Perminov, was in Kazakhstan with a group of generals on 16 April to inspect equipment and personnel at the Baikonur cosmodrome. Perminov said Moscow plans to transfer its military space program from Baikonur to Plesetsk within eight to 10 years, although it will continue to use the Kazakh facility for launching civilian spacecraft and commercial satellites. At present, all of Russia's manned spacecraft and more than half its military satellites are launched from Baikonur, which Russia leases from Kazakhstan for $115 million per year. Its remote location, however, makes it difficult for Russia to use the cosmodrome, the Russian Space Troops press service said on 16 April, explaining the decision for the partial abandonment of Baikonur. (ITAR-TASS)