Russia’s space program: continued turmoil

Abstract

This article examines recent difficulties in the Russian space program through the analytic lens of the Russian political and economic reform effort. It argues that Russia’s problems go beyond a lack of financing. Instead, lack of investment and ‘brain drain’ have caused deep infrastructural problems which would take years of restored funding and political priority to fix. Russia’s continued activity in space stems almost solely from inertia left over from the Soviet period, and from funding provided by foreign partners anxious to exploit the cheap, sturdy elements of that Soviet legacy.