Russian federal Space agency

The Russian federal Space agency ( FKA , in Russian ФедеральноекосмическоеагентствоРоссии, commonly called Roskosmos ), which was in the past the Russian Space agency ( RKA , in Russian Российскоеавиационно-космическоеагентство, shortened Rosaviakosmos ), is an government agency responsible for the civil space program Russian.

History

The Russian Space agency ( Rousskoye Kosmitcheskoye Agentsvo , or RKA) is created the February 25th 1992, with at its head Youri Koptev, which will hold a role parallel with that of the American director of NASA. The RKA plays a primarily civil part, the military space operations being spring of the military space Forces (UK-VKS, in the past UNKS).

The objective of the RKA is to define and coordinate the civil space activities, as well with the political plan as industrial. The task is initially particularly difficult: although young person and inexperienced, it must maintain cohesion with the Russian industrialists such as RKK Energia which, as of the first years after the fall of the the USSR, seeks to negotiate contracts with foreign agencies whose NASA.

During all the decade 1990, the Russian policy as regards management of the industrial complexes of the space sector consists of Restructuration S and trusts in order to increase the profitability of the sector. But with an annual budget of about 150 million dollars, much lower than that of the great Western agencies, the RKA cannot propose ambitious space program.

In June 1999, the RKA is reorganized: it is re-elected in Rosaviakosmos (abbreviation of Rossiyskoye Aviatsionno-Kosmicheskoye Aguentstvo ) and obtains new responsibilities in aviation. Youri Koptev remains at its head.

Presidency of Vladimir Poutine mark on the other hand a turning in the Russian space policy: if the cleansing of the economy is always of rigor, Russia again regards space as a stake of size. The budgets allocated at the Agency increase, although always very in on this side those of the Western space powers. Thus in 2002, Russia devoted approximately 700 million dollars of the public expenditure for space, that is to say less than one country like the Italy.

Among the top priority of the Agency then appear the restoration of the constellation of satellite as well as engagements with respect to the International space station.

In March 2004, a few days before the re-election of Vladimir Poutine to the presidency, of many institutional rehandlings took place, and Rosaviakosmos does not have escaped there: the March 9th, it was reorganized, the aeronautical pole was again dissociated from the space pole and the space agency was re-elected in Russian federal Space agency (FKA). Three days later one learned the departure from Youri Koptev of the direction of the agency, which it had directed since its creation 12 years earlier. It is replaced by Anatoly Perminov, the former chief of the military space Forces, who holds a speech much more ambitious than his predecessor, in particular by evoking space programs towards the the Moon and Mars.

External bond

Official site

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