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Russia to launch eight spacecraft to ISS next year
Moscow - August 30, 2000 - Russia has pledged to send eight spacecraft, both manned and unmanned, to the International Space Station (ISS) in 2001, Russian Space Agency director Yury Koptev said Wednesday. An unmanned Russian supply vessel successfully docked earlier this month with the state-of-the-art space station which is due to get its first crew on October 30. Two US space shuttles and another supply vessel are expected to join the ISS before the arrival of US commander William Shepherd and Russian cosmonauts Yury Gidzenko and Sergei Krikalyov. Koptev said Russia had committed to send another six supply vessels to the ISS next year as well as two manned space craft, after earmarking four billion dollars for the project. The ISS project involves 15 other countries, including the United States, Canada and Japan. When finished, it will be 100 metres (yards) long, and weigh more than 450 tonnes. Russia's ISS budget for the current year was 40 million dollars but the space agency had succeeded in raising 3.5 billion dollars from commerical ventures, mostly in collaboration with US firms, Koptev said. But speaking at a news conference in Moscow, Koptev painted a much bleaker picture of Russia's civil aviation industry, which he said was "in a critical state" as a result of losing the government support it had enjoyed in the Soviet era. Of more than 300 Russian air companies, there were only 14 with balanced budgets, he said. If nothing is done, Koptev warned, "we definitely risk losing our place in the aviation industry within the next year and a half." Since 1991, Russian aviation production has shrunk by a factor of 15, according to official figures. Between 1993 and 1998, about 2,700 aircraft were scrapped while the country's aviation industry had only put 32 Russian and 41 foreign planes into service during the same period. "Today, nobody wants to invest in new Russian aviation projects," Koptev said. Community Email This Article Comment On This Article Related Links Space
Satellite Launch To Boost DTH In India
Calcutta, India (SPX) Dec 28, 2005The successful launch Thursday of India's heaviest satellite from spaceport of Kourou in French Guyana may have boosted the country's space research efforts to yet another level, but it has also lifted the spirits of at least three Direct-To-Home televisions broadcasters, one of which has been waiting for years to launch its services in India. |
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