Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin has lambasted Federal space agency Roscosmos and called for a structural reform of the country’s space industry in the wake of the recent Proton rocket failure.
Speaking at a meeting of the commission…
Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin has lambasted Federal space agency Roscosmos and called for a structural reform of the country’s space industry in the wake of the recent Proton rocket failure.
Speaking at a meeting of the commission established to investigate the launch failure, Rogozin was quoted by the state-owned news agencies as saying: “Firstly, I see ineffective management. Secondly, excess capacity. And third, a rather vague understanding of the goals of Russia’s space-related activities.”
Rogozin suggested the industry could potentially be broken up to enable greater independence from Roscosmos.
“The functions and responsibilities of the customer, manufacturer and operator of space systems still haven’t been delineated. The industry is oversized and poorly managed,” the deputy prime minister said.
He went further to claim that there was a lack of clarity in Russia’s space policy, arguing “there are no specialists who have experience in strategic planning to develop the space industry and ensure its reliability”.
He also called for a discussion about the possibility of combining the aviation and space industries.
Rogozin’s comments follow similarly damning criticism of Roscosmos from the country’s Account Chamber. In a report released in July, the Chamber said the federal space programme was ineffective due to poor management that that ‘ignored regulatory requirements and best practices in state procurement orders’.
It pointed out that the space agency had only launched 47.1% of the required number of satellites into orbit between 2010 and 2012.
To make matters worse for Roscosmos, on 2 August, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev officially reprimanded the head of the agency, Vladimir Popovkin. The reprimand, however, was not related to the most recent Proton failure.
Proton to return in September according to Roscosmos chief
As widely predicted, the official cause of the failure of the Proton rocket carrying three Glonass satellites on 2 July was the improper installation of three yaw angular rate sensors.
The sensors were installed upside down, meaning that shortly after take off the rocket deviated from its flight path and crashed.
International Launch Services (ILS), which markets the Proton vehicle to commercial customers, stated that it will now begin its own Failure Review Oversight Board (FROB) on 9 August.
The FROB will provide an independent review of the investigation, probable root cause, and corrective actions required prior to return to commercial flight. It will tentatively conclude by 16 August.
In the wake of the findings, Roscosmos chief Vladimir Popovkin told local reporters that Proton launches will restart in September with up to five taking place by the end of the year.
The space agency also intends to resume launching its light-class Rokot launch vehicle in September after a nine month hiatus. Flights were suspended following the failure of a Rokot carrying three military satellites in January.
The root cause was identified as a glitch to its Briz-KM booster and Roscosmos has stated that this is now fixed.
