Latest Russian Federal Space Agency Stories

Text of report by South African newspaper Mail & Guardian on 12 September [Report by Stefaans Brummer and Nic Dawes: "SA, Russia in R1bn Cold War"] Cancellation of military satellite deal could result in a huge lawsuit in The Hague, write Stefaans Brummer and Nic Dawes The secret is out: Defence Minister Dosiuoa Lekota cancelled the purchase of a military spy satellite from Russia, putting relations between the two countries under strain and potentially creating a R1- billion liability for...

MOSCOW. Sept 5 (Interfax-AVN) - The orbital grouping of the Russian Global Satellite Navigation System GLONASS will increase to 30 satellites by 2011, said chief of the Russian Space Agency (Roscosmos) Anatoly Perminov. "By 2011 the grouping will have 30 operational spacecraft," he said in an interview published in the Krasnaya Zvezda newspaper on Friday. This quantity will be reached after six satellites are launched into orbit this year and another six next year, Perminov said. "The...

Russia will be taking U.S. astronauts to space after the U.S. ends its shuttle missions, deputy chief of the Russian Space Agency (Roskosmos) Viktor Remishevsky told Interfax-AVN on Friday. "It is almost decided that after shuttles go out of service, U.S. astronauts will be delivered to the International Space Station aboard our Soyuz spacecraft. We have agreed with NASA about this," Remishevsky said. "No one is going to leave the station if one of the nations stops visiting it...

MOSCOW. Aug 22 (Interfax) - The Canadian Nimiq 4 communication satellite has been brought to Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan for preparation for takeoff with a Proton-M launch vehicle (LV), the press service of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) says. The report posted on the agency website says the satellite will be taken to assembly tower 92-A50. "In the next few days the satellite will be transferred to the clean area and prepared for launch. Experts from the manufacturing...

Russian rocket sends U.S. telecommunications satellite into orbit MOSCOW, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- A Russian Proton-M rocket early on Tuesday sent a U.S. telecommunications satellite, the Inmarsat-4 F3, into Earth orbit, a spokesman for a Moscow-based producer of space- launch systems said. The rocket was launched from the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan at 2:43 a.m. Moscow time (2243 GMT), said Alexander Bobrenyov, spokesman for the Khrunichev state research and production space center....

MOSCOW. Aug 13 (Interfax) - The U.S. telecommunication satellite Inmarsat 4F4 will be launched with a Russian Proton-M launch vehicle from Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan at 2:43 a.m. Moscow time on August 12, the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) announced. A report posted on the agency's website says that planned operations continue at Baikonur to prepare the launch of Proton-M with the Briz-M upper stage which should place Inmarsat 4F3 in orbit. The low-pressure tanks of the...

A sky-high agreement between Russia and Europe gave the first official glimpse of a manned spacecraft. Officials say it will one day replace Russia's Soyuz vehicle, and will also allow Europeans to take a role in crew transportation. The reusable ship is designed to carry four people towards the Moon. Some say it is comparable to the United States Ares/Orion system.The new spacecraft is designed to use thrusters to make a soft landing when it returns to Earth, a major change from previous...

Text of report by corporate-owned Russian military news agency Interfax-AVN website Baykonur (Kazakhstan), 16 July: The discontinuation of military units and the transfer of [Russian] Defence Ministry facilities located at the Baykonur space launch site to enterprises of the Russian space rocket sector will be completed in the autumn of this year. "The transfer of Defence Ministry facilities has begun this month and should be completed in late November 2008," a source at the Baykonur space...

The heads of the International Space Station (ISS) agencies from Canada, Europe, Japan, Russia and the United States met at European Space Agency (ESA) Headquarters in Paris on July 17, 2008, to review ISS cooperation. As part of their discussions, they noted the significantly expanded capability that the ISS now provides for on-orbit research and technology development activities and as an engineering test bed for flight systems and operations that are critical to future space exploration...

The Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) has found a sponsor to build a spacecraft that will bring space tourists to the International Space Station (ISS) in 2011, Roscosmos deputy head Vitaly Davydov said. "We do have people willing to buy this spacecraft and to perform this flight," Davydov said at the Farnborough International Airshow. Recently, Roscosmos has had an opportunity to launch one space tourist aboard a three-seat Soyuz spacecraft; however, after the ISS crew...