Russia to spend $3.8 bn on space programmes in 2011
By IANSTuesday, January 11, 2011
Moscow, Jan 11 (IANS/RIA Novosti) Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said Tuesday that the government will spend 115 billion rubles ($3.8 billion) on the country’s space programmes in 2011.
Russia will celebrate this year 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 programmes,” Putin said at a meeting with space officials.
The prime minister said Russia is planning to launch about 50 spacecraft and adopt a programme for the development of the Glonass satellite navigation system until 2020.
Russia intended to conclude last year the forming of its Glonass system - a project similar to America’s GPS - but a carrier rocket carrying three Glonass satellites veered off course and sunk in the Pacific Ocean Dec 5, 2010.
Space agency Roscosmos said the next launch of a rocket carrying another three Glonass satellites could be conducted sometime in August.
Russia is also planning to increase its share 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 centre.
–IANS/RIA Novosti
