Russia allocates over $3 billion for 2011 space programs

[News_Editor]

Russia allocates over $3 billion for 2011 space programs

2011-01-12 04:46:04 GMT+7 (ICT)

KOROLYOV, RUSSIA (BNO NEWS) -- Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Tuesday announced that the government allocated a little less than $4 billion for its space programs in 2011.

According to the RIA Novosti news agency, the investment for 2011 totals 115 billion rubles ($3.8 billion) as Russia is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the first manned spaceflight by Yury Gagarin.

"We will allocate 115 billion rubles from the federal budget in 2011 on national space programs," the Prime Minister said.

Russia plans to launch approximately 50 spacecraft this year. In addition, the Russian government, led by President Dmitry Medvedev, will adopt a federal program for the development of the Glonass satellite navigation system until 2020.

Last December, two Russian senior space industry officials from Energia were sacked over the loss of three Glonass satellites on December 5. The setback negatively impacted the formation of Russia's navigation system.

A Proton-M carrier rocket went off course and crashed in the Pacific Ocean and thus the three satellites were lost. A state commission determined that Energia Space Corporation miscalculated the amount of fuel needed for the DM-3 booster equipped in the carrier.

The Glonass navigation system project consists of 24 satellites which will operate in a similar manner to the U.S. Global Positioning System. Russia expects to put in orbit another three satellites by August 2011 in order to complete its system, as Roscosmos informed.

Putin added that the Russian space industry plans to increase its participation in the global space market by designing new models of unmanned and manned spacecraft, participating in a large number of international space projects and building a new space center.

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