Putin anticipates Trump and appoints a young economist to head the Russian Space Agency
- Personification of a technological change
- Entering 2030 with new-generation ground and flight infrastructure
Russia is fighting tooth and nail to avoid ceasing to be one of the world's leading space powers and missing out on the acceleration in extraterrestrial activities that are opening up a huge commercial market on a global scale.
To demonstrate his iron will to be a privileged player, President Vladimir Putin has taken the lead from Donald Trump ‒ who still has no head of NASA ‒ and has just published a decree appointing a 39-year-old economist to head Roscosmos, the Kremlin's space agency.
Overnight, Dimitri Bakanov, until 6 February deputy minister of transport, has become the youngest person to govern the destiny of Roscosmos, the state corporation that brings together 117 companies and employs 180,000 public employees. The executive is not a newcomer to Russian astronautics, as he is familiar with the nation's space industry having been head of the Gonets Satellite System, a state-run constellation of low-orbit communications satellites, between 2011 and 2019.
Bakanov replaces 69-year-old General Yuri Borisov, who was appointed director general of Roscosmos in July 2022, and has therefore held the post for less than three years. His replacement comes a day after Russia's first space launch so far this year, which put three spy satellites into orbit from the military cosmodrome in Plesetsk. In doing so, Putin has shown deference to Borisov, who has been able to personally inform the head of the Strategic Missile Forces, General Sergei Karakaev, of his departure.
The new member of Roscosmos' senior management has Putin's approval for the manned space programme outlined by Borisov, who was working at a forced pace to finalise the entry into service of the new Siberian cosmodrome of Vostochny, to complete the development of several families of launchers - Angara and Amur - of the manned capsules PTK and of the new generation supply spacecraft Progress-ROS.
Personification of a technological change
Unless Dimitri Bakanov and his team introduce changes to the plans already established, their first responsibility will be to lay the foundations for the construction by 2030 of a space station that is wholly owned by Russia. Called the Russian Orbital Station (ROS), it must take over and replace the International Space Station (ISS) from 2030 onwards, which it has shared since the end of the 20th century with the United States, Europe, Japan and Canada.
Putin's decision to replace General Yuri Borisov was determined by several factors, it is said in Moscow's space circles. Roscosmos was only able to carry out 17 orbital missions in 2024 - a record low - and has once again been outdone by China, which achieved 68 launches - four times more - and, of course, by the United States, with 154 launches, nine times more.
The ‘insurmountable obstacles’ Borisov has faced in his fight against corruption and delays have also counted. Of course, the failure in August 2023 of the Luna-25 descent probe, which was to have seen Russia return to the Moon after almost five decades of absence, also weighed heavily. Sponsored by the former Minister of Defence, General Sergei Shoigu, and without the backing of the holder of the military portfolio since May 2024, the economist Andrei Belusov, ‘the handover was a done deal’.
Putin is concerned that Russia may fall behind the top three nations at the forefront of the global space ecosystem. He wants to strengthen the private commercial sector and make an economy linked to space applications flourish. He has the disadvantage of being bled dry in his illegal war against Ukraine, of having his economy turned upside down in financing the conflict and his heavy industry focused on fuelling the aggression against his neighbour and brother country with missiles, ammunition, tanks and combat vehicles.
President Vladimir Putin and the Russian people feel they are heirs to the achievements of the Soviet Union during the Cold War and consider themselves pioneers, because they are, in terms of access to space, manned space flight, knowledge of life in extreme microgravity conditions and the exploration of the cosmos. Denis Kravchenko, vice-president of the Duma's Economic Policy Committee, understands that Bakanov's appointment is ‘a very important sign of rejuvenation, personified in a leader for change’
Entering 2030 with new-generation ground and flight infrastructure
Russia rules out an assault on the Moon by its cosmonauts for the time being. It is an unwavering objective for before 2030 that the president of China, Xi Jinping, is focussed on and so was his North American counterpart Joe Biden. However, in the case of Washington, it is a goal that still has to be confirmed by Donald Trump who, influenced by Elon Musk, seems to be paying more attention to the road to Mars than to our natural satellite. The future NASA administrator, quite possibly businessman Jared Isaacman, Trump's nominee, will clearly also contribute to the final decision.
But the fact that the Kremlin authorities have ruled out their cosmonauts setting foot on the Moon in the current decade does not mean that Moscow has given up on maintaining its place on the podium of space powers. The fact is that Roscosmos is focused on building its new-generation ROS space station, a project whose final stage has already received Putin's approval and which involves finalising the ground and flight infrastructure that is already underway.
Vladimir Solovyov, the chief designer of Energia, Russia's very important space industrial corporation, unveiled Roscosmos' manned space programme in Moscow a few days ago. The data provided by Solovyov - 78 years old and a veteran cosmonaut with 362 days in orbit - contemplate the ROS orbital complex and, in parallel, dedicating great financial and technological efforts to conclude the development of several families of launchers, manned capsules and supply spacecraft equipped with new technologies.
Making the new manned orbital station ROS a reality involves a transition stage between 2028 and 2030. In the aforementioned three-year period, Roscosmos and Energía have planned to alternate manned and cargo missions of the veteran Soyuz rockets from the Baikonur cosmodrome with launches from the Siberian Vostochny.
In those final three years of the 2020s, the new Angara A5M launchers should be fully developed to fly from the new Vostochny cosmodrome carrying on board TPK capsules with capacity for between four and six cosmonauts or Progress-Ros logistics spacecraft. According to Solovyov's plans, the last Soyuz capsule with three cosmonauts on board should take off in 2029, and the one that closes the life of the Progress cargo spacecraft should fly in 2030.
The reports and plans already in Dimitri Bakanov's possession establish that the tests of the megaproject that has completed the stage of its predecessor Yuri Borisov will continue until the end of 2027. A couple of manned evaluation flights will take place in 2028 to test the emergency system of the Angara A-5M rocket, as well as the parachutes that reduce the rate of descent of the manned PTK capsule. In short, the new boss of Roscosmos has a few years of absolute dedication ahead of him as he tries to regain some of the space advantage that Russia has lost to China.