“Well, they will reach Mars. What's next?"

Dmitry Rogozin about the search for extraterrestrial civilizations, Russian space and the new construction of the century

Deputy Prime Minister of Russia Dmitry Rogozin, who is responsible for the defense industry and several major space projects, gave a long interview to the Rossiya 24 TV channel, in which he shared his views on space exploration and the prospects for the development of military technologies in the country. TJ chose the most important thing the politician said.

About Russian space at a crossroads

Assessing the development of the defense and space industry over the three years of his own leadership, Dmitry Rogozin said: back in 2011, the Russian space industry was covered in the media exclusively from the point of view of major accidents and catastrophes, but over time this situation was reversed and now the industry is at a crossroads, ready to solve new large-scale problems.

We had a series of accidents and disasters. There were five such accidents in 2011 alone. The media [...] wrote that Russia has become the country that maintains the largest orbital constellation in the ocean. The country of Korolev and Gagarin should not have tolerated all this. A revolution was needed. A radical technological revolution. And this revolution was carried out by the president and the government. [...] 2015 will be a very important year for the entire Russian space industry. [...] Now we stand at a crossroads.

Dmitry Rogozin

How to make money on space technologies

Among the main priorities for the development of the space industry, Rogozin highlighted the need to learn how to earn and count money. As the Deputy Prime Minister emphasized, in Soviet times enormous amounts of money were spent on space exploration, but today it is necessary to develop any such programs only when it is truly justified.

The task is to learn how to make money. In the Soviet Union, money was never counted; it [space development] was an element of prestige. Now we must enter the space services market. [... ] Russia is now mainly engaged in launch services, [... ] but much more money can be earned for the budget on remote sensing of the earth, on services related to the prevention of man-made disasters, on gas and oil exploration, communications and communications.

Dmitry Rogozin

About the pointlessness of flights to Mars and the Moon

From Rogozin’s point of view, effective space development is not always combined with loud statements about the conquest of the Moon or Mars. Each such project needs to be calculated from a financial point of view, being aware of how beneficial it is to the state, the politician believes.

Experts tell me - let's explore the Moon. I used to like this idea myself. Instead of flying in low-Earth orbit, land on the Moon and continue doing the same thing, but on the Earth’s natural satellite. But how much money will it cost? And what do we need on the Moon? Money cannot exist indefinitely. Or take the Mars exploration program. The Americans say: we are interested in Mars. Well, they will fly to Mars, well, they will prove that they can get there. What's next?

Dmitry Rogozin

About the search for extraterrestrial civilizations

At the same time, Dmitry Rogozin highly appreciated the importance of such large scientific projects as the search for extraterrestrial civilizations and the development of systems for protecting the Earth from asteroid danger. According to the politician, no expense should be spared on them.

Of course, like any earthling, I dream of finding out if there is life somewhere besides Earth. Probably, research in this area is worth allocating funds for. The asteroid-comet hazard [... ] is a very important area. Nobody knows what will be discovered in space in a few years, […] whether we will be able to turn away the cosmic body approaching it from the Earth if it is discovered. [...] The Chelyabinsk meteorite showed well that this is not a joke, that this is not a subject for giggles.

Dmitry Rogozin

About the Vostochny Cosmodrome

Rogozin also shared details of the construction of the new Russian Vostochny cosmodrome in the Amur region. The Deputy Prime Minister called it the construction project of the century, and also said that the project is being supervised by the best specialists who were previously involved in the preparation of Olympic facilities in Sochi.

The best specialists were selected for the project, including people from Olympstroy, people who were responsible for the Olympics. You could say that they were transferred from one large-scale construction project to another, even larger-scale construction project of the century for Russia. [...] Of course, there are serious sins and sins of past years, when all this was just beginning, when funds were hanging out in different banks. In general, as always, all sorts of thieves and embezzlers swarmed like flies. But I’m not stopping the construction, but on the contrary, I’m accelerating it. [...] Now the builders have finished concreting the first starting ring. I can tell you only one thing: whether you like it or not, you have to do it. We [...] must complete all construction work by mid-summer and install everything that is necessary for the first launch exactly in a year.

Dmitry Rogozin

About the challenge of the West

In general, Rogozin assessed the work of the defense industry in Russia as coordinated. In his opinion, in 2015, sanctions, which are a punishment for the country from the West for its independent policy, will not be able to prevent it from achieving all planned targets.

[We] are working in the context of the challenge thrown at us for restoring our territorial integrity with Crimea, for demonstrating independence and sovereignty. [... ] We must withstand this challenge, pick up the thrown gauntlet, [... ] raise import substitution. Every question has an answer. You just need to give this answer, gather a team and work. The pace that the Russian defense industry has gained allows us to say: [...] despite the problems, sanctions and other nasty things from our sworn friends, all tasks will be fully resolved.

Dmitry Rogozin

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