Sticks into rockets

The head of Roscosmos expects the struggle in the navigation services market to intensify

The main breakthrough of 2007 in the domestic space industry is considered to be the development of the GLONASS satellite system. This was stated yesterday by the head of Roscosmos, Anatoly Perminov (pictured) , summing up the results of the outgoing year. As Mr. Perminov said, yesterday in just 20 minutes the first thousand portable navigators compatible with the Russian satellite navigation system were sold, and there weren’t enough of them for everyone. However, despite this achievement and some other “local successes” of the space industry, the shortage of its funding, according to the head of Roscosmos, is very noticeable. Although 32 billion rubles allocated from the budget. are a significant amount compared to what was allocated in previous years.

Among the clear successes of 2007, Mr. Perminov considers the strategy for the development of the space industry until 2015 developed by his department and, more importantly, agreed with the government. Another important step, he said, was the creation of nine integrated structures that will implement the federal space program. The construction of a new cosmodrome has also moved forward - the issue of creating an alternative launch site has been brewing for a long time due to constant financial friction with Kazakhstan over the operation of Baikonur. According to Mr. Perminov, the site for the construction of the Vostochny cosmodrome has been chosen in the Amur region, and the development of design documentation has already begun.

As Anatoly Perminov said, in 2007, 20 spacecraft were launched into orbit, nine of which went into space on a commercial basis. Roscosmos also considers the fulfillment of our country’s obligations in the multilateral project to complete the construction and maintain the International Space Station in orbit as a very important area. In particular, the Russian side carried out two launches of manned Soyuz spacecraft and four launches of Progress cargo spacecraft. It is noteworthy that this year flights to the ISS also brought profit - representatives of Malaysia and the United States flew on Soyuz spacecraft with full payment for “tickets”. However, as Mr. Perminov noted, in 2009, flights of tourists into orbit may cease - there will simply be no room left in the ships for “commercial” passengers. “Starting from 2009, when the European and Japanese modules will be launched and a permanent crew of six will be required, there will be no room left for space tourists in the Russian Soyuz spacecraft,” said the head of Roscosmos, noting, however, that even today the agency is unable to satisfy the requests of rich people who want to go into orbit.

The end of 2007 is considered very successful by the space agency, since just the other day the group of Russian satellites, of which there are now 101 in orbit, was replenished with several devices of the GLONASS navigation system. “Today, the availability of the navigation field in Russia has exceeded 95%, our system covers almost 80% of the world’s territory,” said Anatoly Perminov. True, it was the success of GLONASS, according to the head of Roscosmos, that gave rise to rumors about his impending resignation “Many, including officials at the highest level, are dissatisfied with the fact that we are developing GLONASS. Because of this, they are putting a spoke in our wheels,” he complained. “A fierce struggle has begun for the navigation services market in Russia, and, I think we will witness more than one action, including one directed against Roscosmos.

Kirill MELNIKOV