The Russian government has announced a series of measures to improve its space independence in the wake of the increased sanctions imposed on it by the European Union and the United States.
The import substitution programme, part of the country’s…
The Russian government has announced a series of measures to improve its space independence in the wake of the increased sanctions imposed on it by the European Union and the United States.
The import substitution programme, part of the country’s economic countermeasure to the Western sanctions, is designed to reduce Russia’s dependency on foreign technology, particularly micro and radio electronics.
Speaking at a meeting of Russian space industry chief executives, the country’s deputy prime minster Dmitry Rogozin was quoted by state news agency ITAR-TASS as saying that the sanctions had “stripped the (country’s) space industry of the possibility to bring domestic and foreign payloads on the orbit”.
He said: “This means that now we should produce spacecrafts ourselves.”
Rogozin’s comments were echoed days later by the head of the newly formed United Rocket and Space Corporation (URSC), Igor Komarov.
Komarov told a news conference in Moscow that the sanctions “have certainly affected Russia’s space industry, prompting serious efforts to find domestic substitutions for banned foreign products, especially electronic components”.
He added that the import substitution programme for Russian space companies will be ready by the end of 2014, including how it will be financed.
Rogozin has also ordered that a council of spacecraft general designers be set up so that the country’s rocket and satellite developers work together to find “universal solutions” rather than design products separately.
This concept is at the heart of the formation of the URSC. The consolidation of the country’s space industry assets into a single company was conceived in response to the series of Proton rocket failures that have taken place over the past few of years, the most recent of which took place in May.
Among the companies that will be merged into URSC is Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center, the developer of the Proton rocket.
ITAR-TASS cited URSC CEO Komarov as saying that, based on preliminary estimates, it will cost in the region of Rbs30bn (US$825m) to reform and modernise Khrunichev.
A final estimate of the cost will be presented to the government at the end of September.
Komarov also gave an update on the future of Sea Launch, the launch services provider owned by RSC Energia that operates out of the West coast of the United States.
He was quoted at press conference by RIA Novosti as saying: “The unique Sea Launch project faces serious risks as certain parts of Zenit carrier rockets are produced in Ukraine and the floating platform and command ship are based in the United States. The new leadership of the Energia United Rocket and Space Corporation has been tasked with preparing proposals for this project.”
Last month, the head of Russian space agency Roscosmos Oleg Ostapenko told local media that the state was not looking at federalising Sea Launch.
In addition, a Sea Launch spokesman told SatelliteFinance that the crisis in Ukraine is currently not having an impact on the production of Zenit rockets.
Managerial merry-go-round
As part of the industry restructuring, a number of executives from Russia’s large spacecraft developers are being moved into URSC.
On 1 August, Vitaly Lopota was suspended from his position as president and general designer of Energia as he becomes vice president for technological development at URSC.
He has been replaced by Vladimir Solntsev, who was formerly the executive manager of NPO Energomash, the rocket engine developer known for its RD-180 engines.
The Energia board also voted to appoint URSC CEO Komarov as its new chairman.
Meanwhile, the director general of Khrunichev, Alexander Seliverstov, is also moving to URSC. He is to take up the role of vice president for space launch vehicle production at the end of the month.
Andrey Kalinovsky, the former first vice president of Sukhoi Civil Aircraft Company, has been appointed acting director general.