Star Guarantor: Roscosmos to include nuclear program in core national project

Attracting private investors to the space industry will be one of the priorities facing the new Roscosmos team. This became known on March 31 at a meeting between Vladimir Putin and the head of the state corporation Dmitry Bakanov. They also discussed a core national project: it will include a nuclear space program, an orbital grouping of the Russian Federation and a launch program, said the head of Roscosmos. In the closed part of the meeting, the president discussed with Dmitry Bakanov the financing of projects and the development of the state-owned company. Experts believe that today Roscosmos should pay attention to the development of domestic communication and navigation systems to ensure the country's technological leadership. What projects can unite Roscosmos and Elon Musk and why it is necessary to develop space services today — in the Izvestia article.

Why Bakanov became the new head of Roscosmos

On March 31, Vladimir Putin held his first working meeting with the new CEO of Roscosmos, Dmitry Bakanov, who took over as head of the state corporation relatively recently — less than two months ago. Prior to that, Roscosmos was headed by Yuri Borisov, but on February 6 he was relieved of his post. The Kremlin said at the time that there were no complaints against the former head of the structure, and the rotations were taking place "because of the need for the dynamic development of the state corporation."

Dmitry Bakanov is working "in contact" with Yuri Borisov — the president personally asked the former head to help the new head of Roscosmos to "get up to speed" in a working mode, Vladimir Putin said at the meeting. And he wished his interlocutor good luck, noting that Dmitry Bakanov was appointed the new head of Roscosmos for his experience in previous jobs, including at the Gonets satellite company. Bakanov himself added that he had previously worked as deputy Minister of Transport on the implementation of navigation based on the GLONASS grouping, and over the past two years, the revenue of the operating company has tripled.

— I really hope that you will apply all your best qualities here at the head of our leading company Roscosmos. There is no need to talk about how important space activities are. It is important in general in the whole world, for all countries, but for our country, which has always been proud to be a leader in many areas, a pioneer in many areas of space exploration, of course, it is doubly important, three times," the president said.

Dmitry Bakanov promised Vladimir Putin to justify his trust as CEO of the state corporation. Experts noted his proactive approach to business: from the very first days, he began a large-scale audit of Roscosmos, which was accompanied by serious personnel decisions. For example, the top management of space enterprises has already undergone significant changes, which indicates the desire of the new CEO to eliminate inefficiency and build a new management system, Roman Belousov, a scientific journalist and author of the Space Chronicon channel, told Izvestia.

What will be included in the new national space project

One of the top priorities of the new leadership will be to fine-tune the national space project. For example, it will include a nuclear space program.

"The national project will necessarily include the Russian Federation's orbital group, which will provide basic communications, remote sensing and navigation services, as well as the launch program — the entire family of our rockets and the development of cosmodromes, scientific space, manned space and the [energy] nuclear space program," said Dmitry Bakanov.

The state corporation also plans to increase the commercialization of space and attract private investors to the industry. Vladimir Putin has repeatedly spoken about Russia's interest in this. This was discussed at the end of 2023 at a meeting with young scientists, and the president also addressed this topic in his plenary speech at the Eastern Economic Forum (EEF).

The interlocutors discussed some topics in a closed format. "I know the issues related to the financing of various programs and the development of the company as a whole. Now let's talk about it," Vladimir Putin said at the end of the meeting.

According to experts, one of the most important challenges facing the domestic space industry is the transition to our devices and electronics, which will ensure the provision of space services independently of other countries and ensure Russia's technological leadership. It can be achieved through the introduction of space technologies, for example, satellite communications technologies, data transmission, remote sensing of the Earth, hydrometeorology and navigation, said Dmitry Strugovets, an expert in the field of astronautics, author of the Closed Space channel.

Navigation issues, by the way, also occupy an important place in the activities of the state corporation, as international projects in this area are now developing more actively than domestic ones. Meanwhile, in the Russian Federation, 24 devices in the main Glonass satellite navigation system are located mainly in medium orbits. The plans include the development of low-orbit and high-orbit groupings. In this case, the systems can be used not only for navigation on Earth, but also, for example, in the tasks of exploring the Moon, said Konstantin Kreidenko, editor-in-chief of the Bulletin of GLONASS magazine.

— It is necessary for consumers to be able to switch very quickly and reliably to other types of navigation using geomagnetic fields, mobile communication stations, and radio wave sources. To do this, it is necessary to develop space services in cooperation with other seamless navigation systems," he told Izvestia.

Among other tasks of Roscosmos is to provide the country with reliable communications "no worse than Elon Musk's," Roman Belousov believes. In particular, we are talking about the early launch of the Sphere system (a comprehensive project for the provision of space information technologies throughout the country). This system is necessary for both civilian and military purposes, experts recalled.

International tasks are not left aside for Roscosmos either. As Kirill Dmitriev, the President's special representative for investment and economic cooperation with foreign countries, who participated in negotiations with the United States, has repeatedly announced, one of the promising areas today is precisely related to organizing flights to Mars together with Elon Musk. This can be compared with the preparation of the Soyuz and Apollo flights in 1975, which became a symbol of detente in relations between the great powers against the background of the Cold War, Dmitry Strugovets concluded.