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Russian Space Chief Hopes for Improvements in Satellite Operations

Posted on: Monday, 17 January 2005, 06:00 CST

Text of report by Russian news agency RIA

Moscow, 17 January: The head of the Russian Federal Space Agency, Anatoliy Perminov, expects qualitative changes to the Russian orbital group of satellites, according to a space agency statement that quoted him.

In particular, Perminov noted improvements in the state of the Russian orbital group of satellites. "Stabilization has begun and I am sure that there will be an improvement soon," Perminov thinks. He noted that "we are not talking about quantitative changes, but primarily about quality".

The statement says that at present the orbital group comprises 97 spacecraft, of which 81 are operating according to their designation, nine are in reserve and seven are being used but not in accordance with special-purpose programmes.

Perminov also pointed out that the main tasks of both last year and the future are to "expand and enhance the efficiency of the use of space, to strengthen international cooperation in the field of space activity, improve space potential and ensure a guaranteed Russian presence in space".

According to international analysts, Russia carried out 42.6 per cent of all booster rocket launches in the world in 2004, the USA carried out 29.6 per cent, China 14.8 per cent, the European Space Agency 5.6 per cent, India 1.9 per cent, and 5.6 per cent were carried out under the Sea Launch programme.

According to Perminov, 74 per cent of all Russian launches were carried out at the Baykonur launch site [in Kazakhstan] and 26 per cent at the Plesetsk launch site [in northern Russia].

Source: BBC Monitoring Former Soviet Union

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