The Kremlin has fired Yuri Borisov as the head of Russia’s space agency, Roscosmos, in a great overhaul, just months after Russia’s first dramatic failure to land on the moon in 47 years. The uncrewed Luna-25 mission was lost when it crashed onto the moon’s surface in August 2023.
The removal of Yuri Borisov, who had been in charge of Roscosmos since July 2022, is without any declared reason. However, according to Kremlin sources, the Luna-25 failure is just one of a long series of factors that led to such a decision.
Dmitry Bakanov, deputy minister of transport, has been nominated to lead Roscosmos. Bakanov before entering government services was the CEO of Russian satellite communications company Gonets.
Space Ambitions Suffer Setback for Russia
Russia had prided itself on being a long-time player in space exploration, particularly since the cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first man in space in 1961. The failure of Luna-25 drew attention to more significant disappointments over the nation’s intentions with space.
Despite the mission disaster, Borisov presented ambitious plans for the future of the Russian space program, which put forward the development of a new independent orbital space station.
This is a new space station to be built as the replacement for the old International Space Station (ISS), on which Russia is willing to continue working with the United States despite frayed relations due to both of them fighting over the Ukraine war.
Management Future
Appointing Dmitry Bakanov as the head of Roscosmos has signified new leadership at the space agency. Under his tenure, Russia would pursue its big-ticket space exploration projects, which include launching two modules for the new Russian space station by 2027. The country aims to preserve a continuous presence in space and carry out scientific and security-related missions.
This might bring space exploration into a new arena of geopolitical competition between the two countries if the major nuclear arms agreement between Russia and the U.S. expires in 2026. Russia is now moving ahead with its ambitious space goals under new leadership.
