Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree dismissing Dmitry Rogozin as head of the Roscosmos state space corporation on July 15, TASS reported, citing the decree on the Kremlin website. “Dmitry Rogozin is hereby released from his position as director general of the Roscosmos state space corporation. The decree comes into effect on the day of its signing,” the document reads, reported TASS. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Rogozin’s resignation is not connected to any complaints about his job and he will soon receive a new appointment.
Rogozin is replaced by Yury Ivanovich Borisov who has been up until now the Deputy Prime Minister. A former deputy minister of defense, Borisov has a military background in radio electronic and cybernetics. As deputy defense minister he was in charge of the Russian army’s rearmament from November 15, 2012 to May 18, 2018. As deputy prime minister in 2018-2020 in the government of Dmitry Medvedev, he oversaw the domestic defense industry, and retained his post under Mikhail Mishustin formed on January 21, 2020. He is a far more technical person who has managed military technical programs than Rogozin.
According to TASS Borisov will have his hands full at his new job. Because of cuts in the Roscosmos budget, he will have to revise the agency’s programs citing statements by scientific director of the Moscow Space Club Ivan Moiseyev.
“He will have to revise the Federal Space Program until 2025, which is currently in force … and, accordingly, make adjustments to the work that is being carried out under the program from 2025 to 2035. At the same time, a number of programs will have to be abandoned according to some criteria,” Moiseyev said.
The other serious difficulties, in particular, include import substitution. “We had a very large proportion of components from the United States and, accordingly, they need to be changed, and changing means not just taking and replacing, but they need to be tested, the tests are long, expensive and complex.… And the second problem is obvious, as it was announced already, it concerns a decline in funding for the space industry,” Moiseyev said.
Commenting on his dismissal, Rogozin told TASS: “Four years in Roscosmos are not merely a job, it’s an entire life,” he said.
