Translation. Region: Russian Federal
Source: Government of the Russian Federation – Government of the Russian Federation –
An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.
The development strategy of the state corporation was discussed in the context of the implementation of a new national project on space activities.
From the transcript:
M. Mishustin: Dear Dmitry Vladimirovich!
Meeting of Mikhail Mishustin with the General Director of the State Corporation Roscosmos Dmitry Bakanov
General Director of the State Corporation Roscosmos Dmitry Bakanov
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Meeting of Mikhail Mishustin with the General Director of the State Corporation Roscosmos Dmitry Bakanov
You head the State Corporation for Space Activities, which is responsible for space research. And here there is a very large influence on related industries. The corporation is also actively involved in science and technology.
The President emphasized that when implementing national projects, “we must not simplify our tasks, but, on the contrary, set ambitious but adequate goals and accumulate all possible means and resources to confidently achieve them.”
It should be said that the active work over the past few months under the leadership of the President has made it possible to complete the development of a new national project on space activities. About 4 trillion rubles are allocated for its financing until 2036. First of all, we will direct these funds to maintaining the competitiveness of the Russian space industry.
Tell us what is already being done in the direction of implementing the national project, which has begun its countdown, and in the corporation as a whole.
D. Bakanov: Dear Mikhail Vladimirovich!
General Director of the State Corporation Roscosmos Dmitry Bakanov
A new national project in the field of space was approved, which includes eight federal projects, a number of which are aimed at absolute competitive advantages in the field of space – this is nuclear energy in space and scientific space.
The main challenge today is that if just five to ten years ago only two or three countries had the necessary space technologies, now this number has grown to 10–12 – they are also competing on pricing.
In order to be a leader, we have two main directions.
First. This is competition in launch vehicles. Several countries already have the technology of a returnable first stage. And we have also gone in this direction. And, as you know, the Amur launch vehicle, which will be on methane, on liquefied natural gas, will have a returnable first stage.
By the end of the year, we are implementing the Baiterek project at the Baikonur Cosmodrome together with our Kazakh partners. The Kazakh side has undertaken obligations to build the launch pad, and Roscosmos has undertaken obligations to launch the new Soyuz-5 rocket, and this launch is planned for December of this year.
The second direction is the conveyor assembly of satellites. Now orbital groups are growing massively. Russia also has the corresponding technologies. One of the operators is deploying a group of more than 300 devices. And at the end of this year there will be the first serial launch. This is a technology when we will work out and adapter their distribution in orbit. And in principle, the Russian Federation has not yet created a group of more than 300 spacecraft.
M. Mishustin: I ask you to strengthen your work in two more areas.
First of all, it is necessary to increase the economic efficiency and financial stability of enterprises in the industry. Provide for the possibility of involving private business in production chains. This is very important. And this, of course, must be done jointly with the Ministry of Finance, which will strengthen the competitive potential as a whole and attract extra-budgetary financing. And this is the second task, since private business has a huge interest in space technologies. And capitalizing on this interest should also be a target task for Roscosmos.
And one more thing. Special conditions are imposed on the activities of Roscosmos. The technologies used in the state corporation must be domestic and meet the highest safety requirements.
You have been involved in digital technologies for many years, responsible for digital transformation. How do you assess the level of digitalization in Roscosmos? And what technologies are you going to continue to work with, taking into account the need to use mainly domestic software?
D. Bakanov: Yes, production efficiency can no longer be increased without the use of digital tools. Here we plan to move in three directions.
First, this is the so-called heavy software. Two most striking examples.
Firstly, this is mathematical modelling when testing engines on a stand. Thanks to this mathematical modelling, the Keldysh Centre was able to reduce the number of burns from eight to four, i.e. the efficiency increased twofold. Due to the modelling of a number of processes, we do not go to the stand with the engine, but do it on the computer. This directly affects the cost of the product.
Secondly, this is the so-called PLM. This is a full development cycle. Here, in addition to import substitution, we must also increase the efficiency of production processes by introducing such technologies. And we are developing the Russian orbital station, which will replace the international space station, using a similar Russian software product.
Moreover, as we reported to you at CIPR, in addition to one organization – RSC Energia, the lead agency for the development of our new orbital station, we are also connecting the entire list of cooperation partners. This includes the Khrunichev Center, which will make the Angara launch vehicle for it, and TsENKI – the Center for Operation of Ground-Based Space Infrastructure Facilities, which is preparing the cosmodrome. Thus, we will have a comprehensive view of the entire chain of product creation.
The second, no less important area is work with personnel. Here, too, there is a domestic development, when we do not just conduct personnel administration, but involve employees in the so-called social network of Roscosmos. When, in addition to the fact that we evaluate them, we also receive feedback from them: how they evaluate the employer.
And if we talk about digital development, we cannot fail to mention artificial intelligence. Here, together with one of the market leaders, we are preparing two products. The first is an astronaut assistant on board the ISS, so that the research and testing that are carried out there are most effective. And the second area is the use of a neural network to improve the accuracy of Earth remote sensing (ERS) images. When mentioning this market, you asked about attracting private investors. The ERS market is precisely one of these areas.
What do you mean? That it is expensive for the state to constantly maintain an orbital group of 30-40 optical imaging devices in orbit. And here, by attracting private capital, we could unload the cost part of Roscosmos. For this purpose, together with the Ministry of Finance, on your instructions, we have provided the appropriate funds for the purchase of these services from qualified customers – government agencies. Thus, government customers buy highly detailed resolution, pay for it at a market rate, the same as on the world market, and at the expense of this money, private individuals return their CAPEX.
M. Mishustin: In the course of updating the Roscosmos development strategy, it is necessary, of course, to analyze the competitors' solutions. You yourself said that several countries are currently working in the field of space research, producing return stages. Therefore, it is necessary to look very carefully at where what solutions are used, and to prioritize the use of Russian products, software, in particular heavy software, automated design systems, life cycle systems as much as possible. It would be very good if this were implemented on Russian systems.
In terms of personnel, this is undoubtedly the most important issue. You mentioned personnel training. For the space industry, this takes a lot of time. Here, the artificial intelligence system will not replace the professionals who traditionally work in this field in Russia. These are people respected in society – astronauts, technicians, engineers, scientists.
I would like to wish you good luck and the realization of all your plans.
D. Bakanov: Thank you.
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