Contents tagged with Roscosmos

  • Russian Space Agency to move space launches to French Guiana amid budget cuts

    The Russian Space Agency Roscosmos will move some of its space launches from Russian cosmodromes to Guiana Space Centre in Kourou, said Roscosmos head Dmitry Rogozin.

    According to him, the spaceport, which is located in French Guiana on the Atlantic coast, is "a unique location on the equator, convenient for space launches."

    "We are likely to load this launch complex, including with our federal launches. We have an interest," RIA Novosti quoted Rogozin as saying.

    According to him, the "move" …

  • Russia cuts space program spending

    The Russian government has laid in the draft federal budget for 2022-24 a sharp reduction in funding for the space industry.

    The total amount of funding for the state program "Space Activities of Russia" next year will be cut by 40.3 billion rubles ($560 million), to 210.2 billion ($2.90 billion), follows from the explanatory note to the draft budget bill, published on the State Duma website.

    The reduction of the 250.6 billion rubles ($3.46 billion) space funding by 16%, which was included in …

  • Russia scraps its lunar program

    Work on the design of a super-heavy spacecraft for the first Russian manned mission to the moon has been stopped.

    It was decided to completely stop it at the stage of technical design, which was carried out by the Progress Rocket and Space Center for Russian Space Agency Roscosmos, and was to be completed in October 2021, Progress’ general director Dmitry Baranov told RIA Novosti.

    According to him, now Progress Rocket and Space Center together with Roscosmos "work on the program for the …

  • Russian government proposes to let Putin control all defense transactions

    The Russian government has submitted to the State Duma a bill that expands the powers of the Russian president and introduces mandatory coordination with him of all transactions with shares of defense companies.

    A special requirement to obtain the consent of the President will apply to sale transactions, the possibility of sale or transfer to trusts of shares (shares in the authorized capital) of "organizations of strategic importance for the military-industrial complex and security of the …

  • Kremlin admits sanctions impacted Russia’s ability to launch satellites

    Russian Space Agency, Roscosmos, cannot launch some satellites due to the lack of chips that Russia cannot obtain due to sanctions, said Roscosmos CEO Dmitry Rogozin.

    "We have more than enough rockets, there is no doubt," Rogozin explained, speaking at a parliamentary hearing in the State Duma on the topic of Western sanctions and measures to minimize their impact on the Russian politics and economy.

    According to him, the manufacturers have satellites, but they are missing one specific chip, …

  • Russia suspends development of heavy rocket for Moon flights

    Russia is suspending the development of a Yenisei-class super-heavy rocket that was planned to be used for flights to the Moon, reported Interfax, citing the head of the Progress Rocket and Space Center Dmitry Baranov.

    The Space Council  of the Russian Academy of Sciences recommended that the rocket, which was expected to be able to launch a 20-ton spacecraft into polar near-moon orbit, should be postponed indefinitely.

    The decision was made following the report of the head of the Russian …

  • Russia removed from Lunar Gateway project

    Russia has been removed from the expert which is developing the near-moon station the Lunar Gateway, headed by the space agency NASA, reported RIA Novosti, citing a source in the Russian space industry.

    The decision to remove Russian representatives from the expert group of the Gateway project was taken after repeated statements by the Russian side about Russia’s insufficient role in it.

    "Russian representatives are removed from the discussions on this topic, removed from email correspondence, …

  • Number of Russia’s space launches falls to lowest level in 12 years

    Russian Space Agency’s ambitious plans to "raise the Russian space industry from its knees” are back on paper.

    For the second year in a row, the Roscosmos State Corporation has failed the government's plan on the number of space launches.

    By the end of 2020, Russia conducted 16 launches. 7 of them were from the Baikonur and Plesetsk cosmodromes, one from Vostochny and one from Kura, RIA Novosti reported.

    The final result was three times lower than the plan announced by Roscosmos in December 2 …

  • U.S. prepares sanctions against Russian Defense Ministry, Aviation Industry, Space and Nuclear Agencies

    The United States has prepared new sanctions against Russia, which will include more than 30 state-owned companies, agencies and entities.

    Russian organizations will be subject to restrictive measures as part of the sanctions package against China, RIA Novosti reports citing a draft document that has not yet been published.

    The Russian Defense Ministry, as well as the subsidiaries of the Russian Nuclear Agency, Rosatom, and Russian Space Agency, Roscosmos, may fall under these sanctions.

    The …

  • Putin demands that Russian Space Agency explain delays with super-heavy rocket program

    Russian President Vladimir Putin has demanded that the Russian Space Agency Roscosmos explain the delays with the super-heavy rocket program.

    According to Putin, the state corporation was tasked with preparing a number of new programs such as the development of a super-heavy rocket, the creation of a space group within the framework of the Sphere project, and the development of the GLONASS system.

    "However, as I see it, these programs have not been approved to date. I ask you to provide …