Putin replaces head of Russian space agency in surprise move

MOSCOW – Russian President Vladimir Putin removed on Feb 6 the head of Russia’s space agency after a tenure of less than three years that was scarred by the spectacular failure of Russia’s first mission to the moon in 47 years.

In a statement, the Kremlin said Mr Yuri Borisov, who had headed Roscosmos since July 2022, was relieved of his post. It did not state a reason.

He was replaced by Deputy Transport Minister Dmitry Bakanov, who before joining the government was in charge of a satellite company.

Ever since Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first man to go into space in 1961, Russia has prided itself as a leading power in space exploration.

But its ambitions

suffered a massive blow

in August 2023, when its uncrewed Luna-25 mission smashed into the surface of the moon while attempting to land.

Mr Borisov, despite that failure, laid out ambitious plans for the coming years as Russia prepares to launch its own orbital space station.

The new project will replace the ageing International Space Station (ISS), where Russia has collaborated closely with the United States even after relations were plunged into crisis because of the war in Ukraine.

In 2024, Mr Borisov approved a schedule under which

the first two modules

of the new Russian station would launch in 2027.

Russia has said it plans to maintain a continuous crewed presence in space and conduct scientific, economic and security-related projects that were not possible in the Russian segment of the ISS.

World powers are competing not only to explore space but also potentially to deploy weapons there.

With the looming expiry in 2026 of the last major agreement between Russia and the US that limits their number of nuclear weapons, each side has accused the other of plans to unleash an arms race in space.

Mr Borisov, the outgoing boss, formerly served as a deputy defence minister under Mr Sergei Shoigu, who was replaced in 2024 by President Vladimir Putin and moved to a new role as secretary of Russia’s Security Council.

His replacement, Mr Bakanov, is the former head of a company called Gonets, which operates a Russian satellite communications system similar to the US Starlink, but much smaller in size and used mainly for government purposes.

The company was the Russian partner in OneWeb, a global satellite communications project. Russia had planned to actively participate in OneWeb but pulled out in 2018 after the FSB intelligence agency said it was a threat to national security. REUTERS