Russian Space Agency Head Sees No “Urgent” Need to Adjust Plans

Text of report by Russian news agency Interfax-AVN website

Moscow, 26 March: The head of Roskosmos [the Russian Federal Space Agency] Anatoliy Perminov, has said that he sees no reason to urgently adjust Russian space programmes and plans on the basis of the USA’s new space policy.

“There are no grounds for urgently adjusting the foundations of the space programme because of the USA’s statements on a new space policy. The long-term plans of our country take into account not only domestic economic capacity but also new risks and threats that may emerge because of the complex, intricate relationships of the modern world,” Perminov said in an interview published on the space agency’s website.

“The stated principles of the USA’s new space policy do not contain ‘revolutionary’ changes to their earlier approaches to the exploration and use of space,” Perminov said.

“The declaration of a new national space policy by the US president should not be seen as a ‘discovery’ for Russia that rules out all our long-term plans, because the developers of Russia’s plans have taken into account, and continue to take into account, the main provisions of other nations’ long-term space policies,” Perminov said.

“Domestic plans for military development set the priorities in designing space systems for military purposes and they also determine the order of implementation and required funding,” he noted.

“It is possible to establish and expand a substantial research and technical stockpile so that Russia can adequately react to other nations’ practical steps aimed at space militarization,” Perminov said.

Nevertheless, he added that “Russia may have to make certain amendments to its space programme to increase the stability and broaden the capabilities of its space systems,” he said.

“We should not rush this or dismantle the existing programmes. Amendments may be made by undertaking a thorough analysis of plans, strategies and practical steps by the USA and other leading space nations. Russia has the research and technical expertise to respond appropriately to a misbalance in space capabilities,” Perminov said.

According to him, the Russian federal space program for 2006 received R23bn [about 882m dollars] in funding and the GLONASS programme received R4.72bn [about 181m dollars].

“The 2007 federal budget assigns R24.4bn [about 936m dollars] for the federal space programme and R9.88bn [about 379m dollars] for the GLONASS program. Moreover, an additional R1.8bn [about 69m dollars] was assigned for backing up the GLONASS spacecraft launch program for 2008-2009,” Perminov said.

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