Kazakhstan to End Proton Missions in 2025

Kazakhstan would gradually reduce Proton carrier rocket launches from Baikonur space port and end them in 2025, an official with the national space agency (Kazcosmos) said Wednesday, reported Xinhua. Kazcosmos Deputy Chairman Meirbek Moldabekov said Kazakhstan had signed an agreement with Russia on the reduction.

The Proton family of rockets was developed in the 1960s and first launched in 1965. The current model, the Proton-M heavy launch vehicle, was designed to deliver satellites and automatic spacecraft to a near-Earth orbit and outer space. It uses toxic heptyl and nitric oxide and is therefore criticized by environmentalists.

The Proton series would eventually be replaced by a new...