Space industry of Russia
Russia's space industry comprises more than 100 companies and employs 250,000 people.[3] Most of the companies are descendants of Soviet design bureaux and state production companies. The industry entered a deep crisis following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, with its fullest effect occurring in the last years of the 1990s. Funding of the space program declined by 80% and the industry lost a large part of its work force before recovery began in the early 2000s. Many companies survived by creating joint-ventures with foreign firms and marketing their products abroad.
In the mid-2000s, as part of the general improvement in the economy, funding of the country's space program was substantially increased and a new ambitious federal space plan was introduced, resulting in a great boost to the industry. Its largest company is
As of 2013,[update] a major reorganization of the Russian space industry is underway, with increased state supervision and involvement of the ostensibly private companies formed in the early 1990s following the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
History
Post-Soviet adjustments
The space industry of the
To coordinate the country's space activities, on 25 February 1992, the
The crisis years
In 1993, the most prestigious program of the industry, the
The final phase of the space program's contraction took place during the 1998 Russian financial crisis. Much of the budgeted money never arrived at the companies. The space industry continued to shed work force, and soon only 100,000 people remained. Wages were also cut: for example at the leading rocket engine producer NPO Energomash, the average monthly salary during this time was 3,000 rubles ($104).[8] The space industry's physical infrastructure declined greatly, and this was symbolised by a roof collapse in 2001 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome which destroyed the Buran shuttle which had flown the one and only flight of the program in 1988. No funds were available to look after the shuttle's hangar in Baikonur and it collapsed on the shuttle in May 2002.[8]
Foreign partnerships
During the crisis years, of the main ways for the industry's companies to survive was to look for foreign partnerships. In this respect,
Another successful company was Energomash, whose extremely powerful RD-180 engine was installed on American Atlas V rockets. The rocket's manufacturer Lockheed Martin initially bought 101 RD-180 engines from Energomash, earning the company $1 billion in hard currency.[11]
New federal space plan
In the early 2000s, during Vladimir Putin's presidency, the Russian economy started recovering, growing more each year than in all of the previous decade. The funding outlook for Russia's space program started to look more favourable.
In 2001, the development of the
In the mid-2000s, funding of the space program continued to improve substantially, amounting to 21.59 billion rubles in 2005 and rising to 23 billion rubles in 2006. In 2007, 24.4 billion rubles was spent on the civilian space program, while the military space program's budget was 11 billion rubles. The industry also continued to receive very substantial funds from exports and foreign partnerships.[15]
2013 reorganization of the Russian space sector
As a result of a series of reliability problems, and proximate to the failure of a July 2013
Structure of the industry
The largest company of Russia's space industry is
List of main companies
Launcher manufacturers
- Soyuz-2
- Briz-M(upper stage)
- Production Corporation Polyot
Engines
A large experience gained by the Russian propulsion industry on all types of rocket engines but in particular in oxygen hydrocarbon propellant and staged combustion system.[19]
- NPO Energomash
- Production Corporation Polyot
- KBKhA
- KBKhM
- Kuznetsov Design Bureau
- Keldysh Research Center
- OKB Fakel
- NIIMash
- TsNIIMash
- Proton-PM
- Voronezh Mechanical Plant
Crewed spaceflight contractors
- Soyuz-MS
Interplanetary missions
- NPO Lavochkin: Fobos-Grunt
Satellite developers
- Express
- NPO Lavochkin: Elektro–L
- Gazprom Space Systems
- SPUTNIX
- DAURIA Aerospace
- Success Rockets
Environmental impact
Critics claim that Proton rocket fuel (
See also
- Aircraft industry of Russia
- Defence industry of Russia
- Success Rockets — Russian private space company
References
- ^ "Spaceflight Now – Tracking Station – Launch log".
- ^ "Space exploration in 2011". russianspaceweb.com. Retrieved 13 April 2018.
- ^ Ionin, Andrey. "Russia's Space Program in 2006: Some Progress but No Clear Direction". Moscow Defense Brief (2(#8)). Centre for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies.
- ^ Harvey, pp.7-8
- ^ Harvey, p.281-282
- ^ a b Harvey, p.8
- ^ Harvey, p.6
- ^ a b Harvey, p.9
- ^ Kirillov, Vladimir (2002). "Khrunichev Center - Leader of the Russian Space Sector". Eksport Vooruzheniy (3). Centre for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies. Archived from the original on July 17, 2011.
- ^ Statement by Vladimir Ye.Nesterov, Khrunichev Director-General, at Press Conference on 15 July 2010 Khruhichev 2010-07-29.
- ^ Harvey, p.197
- ^ Moskvitch, Katia (2010-04-02). "Glonass: Has Russia's sat-nav system come of age?". BBC News.
- ^ Harvey, p.284
- ^ Harvey, p.317
- ^ Harvey, p.285
- ^ Messier, Doug (2013-08-30). "Rogozin: Russia to Consolidate Space Sector into Open Joint Stock Company". Parabolic Arc. Retrieved 2013-09-01.
- ^ Nilolaev, Ivan (2013-07-03). "Rocket failure to lead to space industry reform". Russia Behind The Headlines. Retrieved 2013-09-01.
- ^ Harvey, p.268
- ^ "Future European Reusable Propulsion Systems" (PDF). Retrieved 2015-11-21.
- ^ a b "Russians say space rocket debris is health hazard". BBC. Retrieved August 7, 2012.
Literature
- Harvey, Brian (2007). The Rebirth of the Russian Space Program (1st ed.). Germany: Springer. ISBN 978-0-387-71354-0.