page_title: Space industry of Russia
section_title: Structure of the industry
hierarchical_section_title: Space industry of Russia / Structure of the industry
caption_attribution_description: JSC2006-E-40672 (18 Sept. 2006) --- The Soyuz TMA-9 spacecraft launches from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan Sept. 18, 2006 carrying a new crew to the International Space Station. The Soyuz lifted off at 10:09 a.m. Baikonur time with astronaut Michael E. Lopez-Alegria, Expedition 14 commander and NASA space station science officer; cosmonaut Mikhail Tyurin, Soyuz commander and flight engineer representing Russia's Federal Space Agency; and spaceflight participant Anousheh Ansari, who will spend nine days on the station under a commercial agreement with the Russian Federal Space Agency.
context_page_description: Russia's space industry comprises more than 100 companies and employs 250,000 people. Most of the companies are descendants of Soviet design bureaux and state production companies. The industry entered a deep crisis following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, with its fullest effect occurring in the last years of the 1990s. Funding of the space program declined by 80% and the industry lost a large part of its work force before recovery began in the early 2000s. Many companies survived by creating joint-ventures with foreign firms and marketing their products abroad.
  In the mid-2000s, as part of the general improvement in the economy, funding of the country's space program was substantially increased and a new ambitious federal space plan was introduced, resulting in a great boost to the industry. Its largest company is RKK Energiya, the main manned space flight contractor. Leading launch vehicle producers are Khrunichev and TsSKB-Progress. The largest satellite developer is ISS Reshetnev, while NPO Lavochkin is the main developer of interplanetary probes.
context_section_description: The largest company of Russia's space industry is RKK Energiya. It is the country's main human spaceflight contractor, the lead developer of the Soyuz-TMA and Progress spacecraft and the Russian end of the International Space Station. It employs around 22,000-30,000 people. Progress State Research and Production Rocket Space Center (TsSKB Progress) is the developer and producer of the famous Soyuz launch vehicle. The Soyuz-FG version is used to launch manned spacecraft, while the international joint-venture Starsem markets commercial satellite launches on the other versions. TsSKB Progress is currently leading the development of a new launcher called Rus-M, which is to replace the Soyuz. Moscow-based Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center is one of the commercially most successful companies of the space industry. It is the developer of the Proton-M rocket and the Fregat upper stage. The company's new Angara rocket family is expected to be put into service 2013. The largest satellite manufacturer in Russia is ISS Reshetnev (formerly called NPO PM). It is main contractor for the GLONASS satellite navigation program and produces the Ekspress series of communications satellites. The company is located in Zheleznogorsk, Krasnoyarsk Krai, and employs around 6,500 people. The leading rocket engine company is NPO Energomash, designer and producer of the famous RD-180 engine. In electric spacecraft propulsion, OKB Fakel, located in Kaliningrad Oblast, is one of the top companies. NPO Lavochkin is Russia's main planetary probe designer. It is responsible for the high-profile Fobos-Grunt mission, Russia's first attempt at an interplanetary probe since Mars 96.
caption: A Soyuz-FG rocket launching a Soyuz-TMA spacecraft. Soyuz-FG is produced by TsSKB Progress, while Soyuz-TMA is made by RKK Energia
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