Is Russian Space Industry Consolidation Creating a Black Hole?
Russian President Vladimir Putin looks over plans for Vostochny. (Credit: Roscosmos)
A couple of stories in The Moscow Times provide some insight into the re-nationalization of Russia’s space industry. One story claims the changes will create a giant black hole that will suck in billions of rubles while producing little of value. The other spotlights the firing of a prominent space analyst who dared oppose the changes.
Pavel Luzin writes that the merging of the Russian space agency, Roscosmos, and the nation’s space companies under a single government-run corporation has less to do with solving the sector’s many problems than it is designed to consolidate power in the hands of those around President Vladimir Putin.
With the creation of another industry “behemoth,” the size of the overall pie grows smaller, government spending on aerospace gets channeled down a narrower conduit and those who manage to tap into that flow will grow both wealthier and more powerful. The close associates of state defense firm Rostec head Sergei Chemezov are the main beneficiaries of this restructuring, and heading that team is Igor Komarov, the head of URSC and now the head of the new Roscosmos.
In addition, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, who oversees the defense industry — where Rostec figures prominently — seems to have done a good job promoting the interests of that team in recent years. In other words, the same few people will continue to control the annual allocation of hundreds of billions of rubles of state spending….
The main result of the current reforms is that the space industry will now decide for itself what the state will request from it. The main purpose of the revamped federal space program is not to produce what Russia needs in space, but to churn out whatever the state aerospace corporation itself wants and is able to produce. It now exists only in order to receive government funding.
It thus becomes completely clear why, even after the space industry lost an entire decade with nothing to show for it, the plans for its future activities are made in such a chaotic fashion. Why have those officials suddenly announced plans to create a national space station, and why do they periodically discuss missions to the moon and Mars — both crazy and absolutely infeasible under current conditions — or the creation of a means for protecting Russia from asteroids?
The answer: not in order to actually build them, but to obtain the government funding for them. In fact, the space industry is incapable of developing or building anything new. It has lost its ability to participate in the world market or to provide meaningful cooperation on international technology projects. Now it can do one thing: present bills to the government for ever increasing costs.
Matthew Bodner reports on a prominent Russian space expert says he was fired for publicly opposing the consolidation of the space industry.
Vadim Lukashevich worked at the Skolkovo Innovation Center, a high-tech business park outside Moscow intended as Russia’s answer to Silicon Valley that has partnerships with Western research universities such as MIT.
“As I understand it, they [fired me] for a series of interviews in which I criticize the recent decision to liquidate the Federal Space Agency and create a new state corporation called Roscosmos,” Lukashevich told The Moscow Times on Friday….
Lukashevich, a prominent voice in the Russian space scene, told the BBC the reform would remove any industry accountability and would foster corruption — all while failing to provide Russia with a long-term direction in space.
On Wednesday, a day after the interview was published, he said someone at Skolkovo’s Space Cluster called him to say he had been fired. The caller “apologized several times, saying the decision was imposed on them from above — by a phone call from URSC in the middle of the night,” Lukashevich said.
Skolkovo did not directly respond to Lukashevich’s claim that URSC ordered his dismissal. The center’s press secretary, Alexandra Barshchevskaya, said Lukashevich’s departure had been long-planned, and he had received official notification in October.
Skolkovo is the brainchild of Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, who developed the idea after a visit to Silicon Valley several years ago. He decided that Russia needed something similar to foster innovation, so he launched a giant government-run initiative to achieve it.
55 responses to “Is Russian Space Industry Consolidation Creating a Black Hole?”
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Russian space endeavours? It really amounts to nothing. In the past it meant something, but nowadays…
Nevertheless, Putin is right to support the space sector in his country, which is one of few ones, which may competitive on world market in some selected fields and may set impulse to other even more shabby Russian industries. However, it is necessary to adopt the objectives to the economic power of Russia, which equals only to that of Italy despite it Russia has roughly three times population of Italy.
Dear Matt, where you saw the support of the Russian space industry by the Putin administration? Show, please, with your finger.
This support came to an end at the very moment when to him were able to explain that GLONASS can not follow up anyone. GLONASS only creates guidelines for users. Putin took care of the GLONASS up to this point. Time after time, the leaders of the space industry in Russia are appointed by the generals who were responsible for supplying weapons to the army. The Russian segment of the ISS looks like a pathetic stub. Scientists my great country wanted to see a modern laboratory in orbit, and the creation of this laboratory has been ordered and paid for.
Matt, do not defend Putin, and those whom he led to power – they are for the country did not do anything good. But created a great problem for the entire world. Russia’s economic recovery can begin only after his departure from power. Putin main culprit of the economic crisis in Russia.
I’m not sure what you meant to say by the comment:
“This support came to an end at the very moment when to him were able to explain that GLONASS can not follow up anyone.”
Do you mean that Putin was under the impression that GLONASS was a spy/tracking system to keep track of individuals wherever they went? If so, then WOW… he needs to use a smartphone.
Jeff Smith wrote:
“Do you mean that Putin was under the impression that GLONASS was a spy/tracking system to keep track of individuals wherever they went?”
Yes, that’s what I had in mind. For a long time, Putin has actively supported the GLONASS, and at the same time from his speeches indicated that he perceives it as a tracking system. This support ended abruptly soon after all the planned satellites were sent to orbit. Now, Putin does not remember in their speeches about GLONASS.
Russia is about to be a failed state, again.
“Failed” by “friendly” help of USA, EU and Saudi-Arabia. However, nobody shall underestimate the capability of resistance of Russian people. An error, which already made several times made by foreign powers, for example by Napoleon and Hitler.
Some of the Russian people (you?) seem to be under the impression that the “West” is somehow going to invade or declare war on Russia. I’m not sure where this is coming from. Russia’s current difficulties are all of their own making. The small number of people who run Russia are to blame.
It will be interesting to see Russians look back on the situation in 10 years, and make the judgement if Ukraine really was worth it. I doubt they will think so.
“I’m not sure where this is coming from.”
Of course you’re not, because you live in a country with freedom of the press, and a significant number of news sources that aren’t influenced by the government.
The Russian government has bought or taken control of all the major TV networks, and virtually all of the major newspapers. Even internet bloggers with over 3000 readers have to register with the government because of some stupid new law.
The government has been slowly, but steadily and systematically painting a picture of Russia as a country surrounded by enemies, chief among them the USA. They’re actually quite clever at bending the truth in ways that are believable. For example, when the US initiated sanctions against Russia over Ukraine, Putin banned food imports. This led to food shortages. Guess what the media reported? The US sanctions (truth), and the food shortages (truth). They left out the detail that the food shortages were due to Putin’s bans. And now the Russian people blame the US for their food shortages….
keep in mind that while russian press is controlled by the current gov. in power, American (and most of the world) press is controlled by others. Faux News is owned and controlled by an Englishman who screams about freedom, and deficits, while backing those who hate freedom (he pushes large amounts of his animation and work into nations like North Korea, Iran, and Venezuela) and run up massive deficits.
Then we have MSNBC which is apparently controlled by liberals and is just way out there. I can comment on them since I have not watched them since MS bought part of NBC, but they appear to be as fair and balanced as faux news is.
While I used to love CNN HLN (30 minutes straight up of JUST NEWS) in the 90s, it is now owned by its own set of bozos.
At this point, I find more factually by being on sites like this, or BBC and even al jazera.
Minor correction. I believe that Rupert Murdoch is Australian.
I did not know that.
Thank you.
I am not Russian, but there also many western people as me (including US men), which would sign your comment without any resistance:
“be under the impression that the “West” is somehow going to invade or declare war on Russia.”,
which is quite good supported by the facts. Here is an article of the most recognized US foreign policy magazine “Why the Ukraine Crisis Is the West’s Fault” by JOHN J. MEARSHEIMER, which may of interest of some of the more or less informed ( eh brain-washed) US boys (may apply
also their Russian followers as Valerij).
http://www.foreignaffairs.c…
This may help also (ROBERT PARRY):
https://consortiumnews.com/…
https://consortiumnews.com/…
That’s the benefit of living in a place with free press – All opinions exist, and are frequently published. Not all are based on facts, sadly.
I think you have mistakenly stumbled on the Liberal vs Conservative war of opinion pieces, where they sadly do anything to blame the other side for almost anything. (Putin and Ukraine just being one facet)
in POF, if you read the last 2 links that he had, one blamed liberals, while the other blamed neo-cons, but both blamed America.
It was actually kind of funny. And sad.
It shows that as bad as American education is,
there is plenty worse out there.
Do you really believe that your press is free? Come ‘on, you are quite naive. The other point: Are there any Conservatives with influences left, which serve this name? This game Democrats (not equal to Liberals?) versus Republicans (not
equal to Conservatives?) is only a show for voters. Not very much differences between them. Similar situation in Europe, but even less differences between major political parties, all some kind of social democratic, leftist parties. Putin is the real Conservative of our days.
No, only some kind alternative opinions are allowed in western world (especially in Western Europe), depending from the political stand point. For example, there is no free speech in France or Germany (US men – fight for this right with your
life if necessary). Being a leftist/collectivist is accepted by political establishment in Western Europe, if both are not already the same.
Well first off Matt I’m no boy nor brain washed. I have watched this shit coming for over 10 years. It’s been down right obvious sense Obama got into office and we have taken a step back from the world and left a vacuum.
Like I have said before I would love for the US and Russia to become great allies I just unfortunately don’t see that happening.
Putin has like most dictators realized the great secret in ruling.
Find someone to blame. For most of the World that is the USA.
We are the proverbial Devil for the worlds religion. Who is to blame for the famine in africa? The Wars in the Middle East? The Shitty economy in most of the World? THE US!
Pick your reasons. Hell the majority of the world seems to think its Jews, The US running the world for its evil Military Industrial complex (Don’t even get me started on that one.)
Or the Jews running the world through the USA- favorite of skin heads, Nazi’s, Islamofascist, and others the world wide!
However as long as Putin has someone to blame for it he is fine.
Let me ask you. Outside of Russia’s big money capital regions how much good has he done the people in improving things? I doubt much.
Even if the US and EU caused the Ukrainian government to collapse the actions of Russia in the matter were wrong.
Hell it was Russian backers who controlled Ukraine’s Secret police or whatever who ordered the police to get more brutal and who ordered all of the big brother tactics which did nothing but enflame the problems.
And the supposed unrest in eastern Ukraine? What there was was a few yahoo’s who dreamed of soviet era russian propaganda. Most of the people just wanted things to improve. Now they are stuck in a war torn impoverished nation.
And if Russian Population is anything to go by whats putins next target?
http://www.businessinsider….
So who is next?
And if this is correct can any other nation invade another by claiming its ethnic privilege (wow that seems like something out of 1936).
All action of Putin are acts of self-defence against US aggression. Putin could not leave Crimea to Ukraine/USA, which was already part of Russia at a time, where USA not even existed yet, open for installation of US military bases. That should understand everybody. That such objectives were part of US strategy is already an evil plan, which endagers world peace. (The short intermediate connection of Crimea to Ukraine was installed by Soviet leader around 1950). What about MH 17? Nobody of USA or EU elite talk about it anymore, because your government found evidences, which if published, would spot Ukraine government in a very bad light.
However, US aggression is nothing completely new. We know it already from history. Think about real annexions as that of California, New Mexico, Texas and other states by USA, mostly from Mexico? Or the internal aggression of the Federal State against southern states between 1861-65.
Matt, you’re a normal person? Do you want to justify aggression in the twenty-first century, referring to the fact that everything is operating in the nineteenth? Do you even have not heard anything about the international security system created after the Second World War?
And do not lie about Boeing. I accidentally watched the events of the day through the Internet in near real time. First appearing enthusiasm terrorists that they shot down a transport plane. Then there were the pictures from the event – including the vapor trail of a rocket from the ground. This image appeared on the Internet in half an hour after the event. Then there was a video where terrorists are watching the fall of the downed plane, and say that here at the hillock stands rocket launcher that he was hit.
All this was later confirmed by examination, was traced path that rocket launcher – how she came there, and it was removed from there. So, Matt, stop lying.
Your comment does not prove anything. All can be seen different.
To make it short: If there would exist any evidence that rebels or Russia itself shot down the aircraft, then you can be sure that it had already been used by US government against Russia to full extent. Because US government knows very
probably what happened by its spy satellites, the only sensual conclusion is, that Ukraine shot the airliner down.
Matt, will present evidence in court investigators. Quite a variety of evidence that I Seeking own eyes. One of the most fun – article in the newspaper that the company, sewing uniforms on the orders of the army, carrying out orders, as you call them “the rebels” to the winter form, which will make it easier and more convenient than with a form supplied by the army.
Mr. Gilinkskiy: I am able to elongate the list from above for the time after WW II very easily (only an exception, far away to be complete): Korea (partly failed), Cuba (failed), Laos, Vietnam (failed), Iraq, Grenada, Nicaragua, Haiti, Yugoslavia, Somalia (failed), Kosovo, Libya, Syria (in work), (almost Iran), …
Matt, and now you call the territory, which the United States attached to him after World War II.
I did not say that the US is white and fluffy. I said that I had a system of collective security, that was built mainly in Europe, and in the construction of which was attended by both the Soviet Union and Russia, and Ukraine. This system of international security based on the recognition the impossibility of a nuclear war. Now Putin threatens nuclear blackmail European countries, set a precedent when Russia and the United States guarantees were insufficient to preserve the territorial maintain the integrity.
It is the desire to destroy the existing order and replace it with “New Order” so where the owner of a big stick the final word.
LOL.
So, one of those blames Liberals (namely O),
while the other blames neo-cons (the GOP).
Yet, you advance both as explaining things because they both blame America for everything while ignoring facts.
Enough of the politics.
Matt, I think that you might want to take these conversations elsewhere.
No sense in arguing with Matt. He sounds like a typical young communist who has never seen real communism and gets all of his ideas from theory. Same for those whose first hand knowledge of history doesn’t go any further back than the Iraq war.
Oddly, there has never been a true communist environment except in Israel with their large farms (I have forgetten their names).
USSR and China were dictatorships/totalitarian govs.
And China still is.
But, I agree with you.
It is funny. Several days ago, I was practicing some of my russian (very broken; very poor) with a guy that I had met. When he asked how I knew any, I explained that I worked cold war on knowing and stopping their chemical and biological warfare (USSR had LOADS of it and Russia continues to spread it around; that is why Putin saw to it that Syria’s plants were kept in production and only brought it up after ISIS was able to get ahold of several plants; and yes, ISIS now has access to some VERY wicked chemical agents, which is why we are trying hard to destroy them by air ). Then he told me that he was an ex-USSR intelligence agent. What he had to say about USSR, along with Russia and Putin today was interesting. To this day, he HATES Putin and says that he must be stopped because Putin is still committed to old USSR days.
An Israeli collective farm is called a kibbutz. We have our own forms of Communism here (communities such as the Amish) but it is benign because their religion counsels them to keep to themselves.
I agree about Putin. He’s trying to resurrect the USSR.
Terry, your short-sighted view does not allow to consider other possibilities. You failed with your assumption. I am exactly the opposite of a communist and believe or not, I am experienced real communism personally and was a victim of it. However, these facts do not mean automatically that I am supporter of the US Empire and its criminal foreign policy.
Matt, my country is seriously ill. She’s sick fascism. Once again the enemy has come to us from the inside, so no need to remember the invasion of Napoleon and Hitler. Unfortunately Immunity from the disease in my country is not.
I do not need in this to look for the enemies. All countries care about their prosperity, and compete with each other. This does not mean that they are enemies – it means that you have to be better than others. But the people who now have the power in my country, are only able to look for enemies. Under their leadership, the economy of my country is dying.
I consider (and many with me) Putin as the best Russian leader since the time Soviet Union was founded around 1920.
Putin cheers! Under him the price of oil was $ 120 a barrel!
It is crazy to connect that high oil price to Putin.
So I say that Putin was lucky – were high prices for oil, and he could by building a feudal regime, based on corruption, which is the core of his regime, to share a small part of the oil superprofits to the plebs (people who are not able to make competitive, modern products ), which he raised.
Attached to the cosmonautics – in the nineties, when Russia had no money, was in orbit Mir space station. Opportunities for research on the Mir space station were better than the Russian segment of the ISS. Comfort for the crew was higher. In the zero years, when oil rose Cna, development has stopped. Even the Russian segment of the ISS has not been completed.
But it is not limited to the space industry. Putin has made full use of all the resources that are left over from his predecessors, including Yeltsin and Gaidar, but these resources have not been used for the development of the country.
He does not understand that the country needs to develop – he has a different psychology. He is not a spy – he was a gendarme, who fought against dissidents, and now he wants replay the cold war, hoping to win it using nuclear blackmail.
by many with you, you mean your close friends?
I don’t doubt the hardiness of the Russian people, they have demonstrated a peculiar resilience after so much hardship. But the Russian state is a small oligarchy led by an autocrat without any legitimacy. The state is not the people, it’s the wretched politicians who oppress the people.
Th, Jugurtha
????? How did Saudi Arabia have ANYTHING to do with hurting Russia? All they have done is said enough is enough and that were not going to lose any more market share. If Russia wants, they, along with Venezuela, can quit selling on the open market and that will raise the price of oil.
Which they won’t do, because their economy is propped up by oil exports…well, at least it was before the cheap oil boom.
I would assume that cheap oil should produce some problems also for US companies, which use cracking technologies.
middle east oil costs about 20 bucks a barrel to produce, cracking shale ole costs about 50 bucks a barrel, from what I understand and the House of Saud is going to push oil down so that shale oil is no longer profitable and production dries up so prices can go up again?
The trouble with that strategy is that the oil and gas here will remain in the ground, ready to be extracted again if the price rises enough. This produces a natural constraint on the price. Let it rise too high and the competition from hydraulic fracturing re-emerges.
Prices may rise, but in Russia wait and hope it’s stupid. We must get used to living in the twenty-first century, rather than build a medieval empire. Laptop need a bucket of clay, sand bucket, a good chunk of copper ore, another piece – iron, fifty grams of rare elements. Everything else – the knowledge and skills bearer of which is man. Human use as cannon fodder in the twenty-first century wasteful. This, again, as in ancient Greece, the main industrial power.
Therefore, in reality, the war with Russia useless. Matt lives in illusion.
Bullshit, there are no plans for a Russian empire. Russian does not have the resources for such undertaking, a fact which Putin knows very well. However, Putin has the right and duty to defend his own country against attacks and aggressive politics from outside. See the reality, even if it’s difficult for you, the only empire, which does exist in the moment is the
US-empire. Not sure what China’s plans are in this regard. In my view, Ukraine’s puppet-like addition to the western world (supported by some billionars) is not a nuclear war worth and also not the risk that Russia is forced into the arms of China. The last one is possible is a major flaw of US politics as well as the cooperation of USA with the fascist-ismalic Saudi-Arabia.
Thank you, Matt, calmed. Now I’m not going to pay attention to everything that is happening around – Matt told me the light of truth, and now I have to be happy that we have such a wise Fuhrer and radosno build Fourth, Russian Reich!
Matt, you’re so stupid, or only half? Who of us live in Russia? Which of us knows what’s going on here? You or me?
At the time, Hitler also had many admirers in the West. You just forgot what it was all over. When will fly a light cloud of radioactive steam – remember.
I’m not sure this makes much of a difference. I suspect that much of the “private” space industry in Russia has been old Soviet business as usual, under another name. It is not really New Space or Silicon Valley. And the results have been kind of meager. 30 years since the last interplanetary probes, Vega 1 & 2. Centralization might give a short term boost and scare management to hustle up something to show off.
Anyway, what a funny picture! Couldn’t they’ve made that glue-and-wood model a bit smaller by skipping most of the surrounding wilderness forest? The space port is a tiny thing in the middle of a large table. Putler himself can hardly see it from where he stands. What about drawing it in Sketchup instead? 😛
If you mean new private companies like Dauria Aerospace, you are wrong. They have no any relations with the old state corporations. Problem is that they are too small.
Also interesting thing is that russian state companies usually act as an independent private units and compete with each others. Ironically, it is a result of corruption. A state-appointed top managers of each company steals profits and, of course, they are interested in increasing it.
There is one clarification. The competition, which writes Anton Antonov, does not apply to competition for markets, as it is usually in the West. For example, there is a project “Rossiyanka”, conceived in the early zero – booster with a reusable first stage and fuel methane / oxygen. Spacecraft “Clipper” – also a prrimer. Rocket engines methane for use in reusable rockets developed at the beginning of the century. First Commercial Orbital Station (COS) of the RSC “Energy” was to be launched last year…..
All this could be not only the first in the world – it could be the best in the world! Including – cost-effective, allowing to benefit from space activities, reduce the cost of delivering a payload/man into orbit.
In reality, the RSC “Energia” can not do even recorded in the PCF and paid her reserve spacecraft “Soyuz” and “Progress”. In reality, the entire module “Science”, the resources available for the experiments less than just one device MSG in the US segment of the ISS module, created on the basis of more Soviet technology, more than ten years can not be sent into orbit.
The reason is simple and obvious. Yes, in the space industry, and in general in the Russian economy, there is competition. But it is a competition for control of the cash flows. To improve the quality of products or services that competition does not.
You’re right, most of the space industry in Russia – a Soviet factories and state institutions. But in Russia, there is a “new space industry.”
This is – SPUTNIX, http://www.sputnix.ru/en/ and Dauria Aerospace http://en.dauria.ru & http://russia.dauria.ru/ producing microsatellites, this it ScanEx, http://www.scanex.ru/en/ind… Russia’s largest company providing comprehensive services ERS and produces ground stations for receiving satellite data, “Lin Industrial” http://www.spacelin.ru/ & http://sk.ru/news/b/article… which develops light missiles to launch small satellites into orbit, and not only are they.
So to talk about the complete absence of private space industry in Russia is impossible.
Are those companies engulfed by this “consolidation”?
I am guessing its ALL space assets.
No, these companies are now independent. But of these only ScanEx is a relatively large company.In Russia, these companies can become victims of raiders using the pressure of law enforcement agencies to capture.
Dauria – a fast-paced start-up created just two years ago. But they are still too small in size and too complex for potential raiders is not clear what would be interesting major figure in Russia. Our elite, unfortunately, does not know how to grow a business, but a well-trained professional to take or share someone else’s business.
ScanEx, for example, has created a network of regional centers of space servants on a commercial basis, but then began to create his Roscosmos similar network. At the same time ScanEx little over a year ago, faced with the claims of the FSB and the Investigative Committee. These claims will magically disappear after the owner of 90% of the company became Arkady Rotenberg ….
Other companies are now at the very beginning, they are very small.
Everything in Russia is now contingent on how much it enriches and maintains the power of Kleptocrat-in-Chief Putin. It’s an endless spiral, the tyrant can’t afford to be an ex-tyrant, because he can’t be certain that he won’t end up abandoned by his successors.
Obama decided that the US needed more compulsory health insurance, so he launched a giant government-run initiative to achieve it.
I’m not a huge expert on either the space nor healthcare industry, and I don’t know whether either of the two industries would benefit from government intervention, but Medvedev’s industrial policies don’t seem too far from Obama’s.
Honestly, this is a very far-fetched comparison.
What is more, healthcare is a basic need, every single citizen needs one and utilizes it whereas space efforts (which is, to be honest, mostly military/intelligence so far) are quite far from it.
United States had allegedly big economy and social problems and construction of a truly third world country. Not being American, I think it is reasonable that the 20th centrury is coming back to U.S. Maybe some better mass education will be next?