Russia needs leaner space industry : Roscosmos

By IANS/RIA Novosti,

Moscow: Russia needs a leaner space industry, and that means significant job cuts, according to Vladimir Popovkin, head of Russia’s Space Agency Roscosmos.

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“Unless we act now – we will cease to be competitive,” he warned.

Speaking about the need for reform, Popovkin said that “reorganising Roscosmos into a holding company will ensure maximum staffing” across the sector.

“If today over 250 people are employed then we calculate that the maximum should be 150-170,” he said during a lecture for science and technology students.

In recent years Russia’s space programm has suffered a series of failures, from lost satellites and abortive launches to Fobos-Grunt’s failure to leave low earth orbit.