Earlier in the day, S7 Group announced its plan to buy the Sea Launch floating space pad project, operated by Russia's space firm RSC Energia.

"The Russian government is ready for commercialization of space. We are going to work on a project with RSC Energia. It's what airlines call code-sharing. We are

Sea Launch was formed in 1995 as a consortium of four companies from Norway, Russia, Ukraine and the United States, and was managed by US aerospace giant Boeing. The project aimed to use a floating launch site to place rockets on the equator – the best possible location for launch – which gives the rocket additional speed on lift-off thanks to centripetal force caused by Earth's rotation.

Sea Launch resumed operations in 2011 after a 30-month hiatus that saw passage through US Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Now the company is 95-percent owned by Energia Overseas Limited, a subsidiary of Energia.