Since 2013, Russian Roscosmos has been in the works to become a corporation. Today, Russian President Vladimir Putin has announced that Roscosmos has been officially dissolved to become the Roscosmos State Corporation. This move kicks off the Russian space program’s 2016.
Russian Roscosmos Used to Be a Federal Agency
The Russian Federal Space Agency was first introduced in 1992 to promote and accelerate Russian space research and development. In 2014, the state created the United Rocket and Space Corporation, which renationalized the space race and boosted viable space faring programs. Now, the two bodies have unified to become the Roscosmos State Corporation. This means that all space related activity will be handled under a single state corporation.
Will Roscosmos See Many Changes in 2016?
It’s unlikely that this merge will bring any direct consequences on a short term bases. However, it will make things significantly easier for the Russian state and its efforts in the space industry. This merge means that any technical, financial and material issues that the corporation has will be reviewed by the government’s Cabinet of Ministers, who work in accordance to Vladimir Putin’s President’s decree.
Roscosmos Had to Change to Reduce Delays and Stop Corruption
Since Roscosmos has faced failures in recent years, Putin decided it was time to make a change. By making the space agency a corporation, there is now better control for mission delays and corruption issues. Just this December 5, the Kanopus-ST satellite was destroyed because it couldn’t separate from its launch rocket. On May 16, the agency’s Proton-M rocket booster exploded after take off. In terms of corruption, the agency has faced many investigations on staff. There have also been hunger strikes and dates where the agency was shut off completely. This caused many unnecessary delays.
It’s possible the new corporation will face great budget cuts. There are even unconfirmed reports saying that the agency’s LUNA-17 mission, which set to explore the dark side of the moon, has been completely shut down. Instead, focus is shifting to deep space exploration. A rocket’s first stage part has already been built for this means, and it will be ready for launch by 2025.
Roscosmos Can Finally Compete with NASA, CNAS and SpaceX
Now that Russia is in the business of space faring, they go head to head with NASA and Elon Musk’s SpaceX. Currently, the Russian Soyuz rocket is not reusable, so that will probably be the corporation’s first task. Beyond that, it’s yet to be seen whether the move to make Roscosmos a corporation was a good one or not.
