The flight of the head of the space research institute is a serious failure of the counterintelligence of the Russian Federation

In recent years, much has been said about the problems of Roscosmos. The domestic space industry, once the pride of the USSR, is losing ground more and more before the onslaught of competitors. Unfortunately, there are more and more reasons to “drive through” Roskosmos. It became known that Yuri Yaskin, head of the Research Institute of KP, engaged in space instrument engineering, took a trip abroad and preferred not to return from it, having written a letter of resignation from abroad. Nobody canceled the presumption of innocence, but we note that this unusual event, similar to "flight", occurred against the background of inspections in the institution headed by him.





Like the head of Roskosmos Dmitry Rogozin, Yaskin does not have a specialized “space” education. He worked as a locksmith at the factory where Moskvichi was produced, then in a number of commercial structures, from where he transferred to the Federal State Unitary Enterprise as a general assistant, where he eventually grew to the chief designer and general director. By the way, the head of Roscosmos Dmitry Rogozin is an international journalist by training, and his predecessor Dmitry Komarov previously headed AvtoVAZ.

As a matter of fact, it is too early to speak about any specifics in this research institute before the audit by the authorized bodies is completed, despite the general suspicion of the circumstances of the “one-way trip”. Another question is that Yaskin had access to official information, so there will be many questions for him. Therefore, the escape of the director of a space research institute is a serious failure of domestic counterintelligence.

It makes sense once again to talk about the urgent problems of Roskosmos in general and how they are being addressed.

After the Shuttle program closed, Russia turned into a “space cab” to deliver crews to the ISS. However, the contract at NASA expires in 2020. The Americans, meanwhile, are conducting their own program of manned flights to the orbital station. While companies from the United States are faced with serious problems, an emergency occurs and the deadlines are postponed. But it is obvious that in the foreseeable future NASA will receive its own delivery vehicles, and Roscosmos will ultimately be left without contracts.

Big problems will be and domestic manufacturers of rocket engines. So, Energomash lives largely on the sale of the RD-180 and RD-181 in the United States. But soon the most serious competition they will make up BE-4 methane engines, manufactured by the company of the American billionaire Jeff Basos.

We can mention that Russia in fact forgot how to independently make high-quality space satellites. Domestic devices for the most part consist of imported components. Significant losses to Roskosmos were caused by the failed communications satellite EgyptSat-2 and AngoSat-1, created by Energia Corporation.

The debts of the state corporation "Roskosmos" is another headache. The most problematic is the Khrunichev Center, producing “Protons” and “Angara”. The company has few orders, Protons will soon be removed from the assembly line, customers have gone to American competitors, and debts are growing. Rogozin is trying to solve problems by actively lobbying the Angara project, as well as through real estate operations. So, the land belonging to the Khrunichev Center and other structures of Roscosmos will be transferred to the Moscow government, and in return it will build the “National Space Center”.

The scheme, of course, is curious, but has little to do with science and space exploration. In general, the need for major changes in state corporations has clearly overripe.