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Putin slashes Russia’s space budget and says he expects better results:
Russia plans to slash funding for spaceflight activities during the coming three-year period, from 2022 to 2024. The cuts will come to about 16 percent annually, several Russian publications, including Finanz.ru, report. (These Russian-language articles were translated for Ars by Rob Mitchell.)
For 2022, the state budget for space activities will be set at 210 billion rubles ($2.9 billion), a cut of 40.3 billion rubles ($557 million) from the previous year. Similar cuts will follow in subsequent years. The most significant decreases will be in areas such as "manufacturing-technological activities" and "cosmodrome development." Funding for "scientific research and development" was zeroed out entirely.
[...] Putin has reportedly told the Russian space corporation, Roscosmos, that it must increase the reliability of Russian rockets and "master" the next generation of launch vehicles. This directive has come in response to growing competition in the global space launch business, particularly from US-based SpaceX.
I guess Russia is throwing in the towel as far as space is concerned?
(Score: 3, Interesting) by driverless on Wednesday October 13 2021, @12:33PM (1 child)
You've missed the most important part of that, "Putin has told ...". Vladimir Vladimirovich never does anything without a reason, and that reason is to assert his control and/or get more money into his pockets. So the question isn't "what needs to be improved in the Russian space program" but "who at Roscosmos has dared challenge the Tsar" or "in which way did Roscosmos or a Roscosmos contractor fail to channel funds towards Putin"?
(Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Wednesday October 13 2021, @06:56PM
Maybe he's covering up the fact they need to use all their oxygen to treat a disease he downplayed?
Russian rocket engine facility suspends tests to save oxygen for COVID patients [reuters.com]