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Russian defence minister emphasizes importance of Space Troops

Posted on: Wednesday, 18 June 2003, 06:00 CDT

Text of report by Russian news agency ITAR-TASS

Korolev (Moscow Region), 18 June: Russia's Space Troops will carry out 35 launches of spacecraft this year to replenish the Russian orbital group, Russian Defence Minister Sergey Ivanov said after today's visit to the Energiya missile and space corporation.

According to Sergey Ivanov, any talk about progress in the military reform becomes pointless unless the Space Troops undergo further development. The Space Troops work in the interests of all arms and services of the armed forces.

According to Sergey Ivanov, "the Russian orbital grouping now consists of about 100 military and dual-purpose spacecraft". "In line with a control target set for the Space Troops, the orbital grouping should have approximately 50 dual-purpose spacecraft by 2006-2008," he said.

The minister believes that "the work done by the Energiya corporation to consolidate the space component of the country's defence potential is of special importance for Russia's national interests". First and foremost, this is "the profound modernization of the Soyuz launch vehicle which is used to solve the task of deploying the Space Troops' orbital grouping, the creation of a special onboard aviation equipment and the implementation of other programmes that are no less important", he said.

Sergey Ivanov said combat crews carried out 17 launches of spacecraft in 2002 alone, putting into orbit a total of 22 spacecraft.

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