Russian space companies and projects

• EO – Earth observation
• GIS – Geographic Information System
• GNSS – Global Navigation Satellite System
• Gov – governmental
• LV – launch vehicle
• RC – Roscosmos
• R&D – research and development
• SC – spacecraft
• VAS – Value Adding Services

The Russian space sector comprises over 150 government and private companies and over a dozen companies that are registered abroad but have strong ties to Russia. Many of those companies were deeply involved in international space cooperation on government and private levels. This cooperation continued for decades, even despite the first sanctions against Russia imposed in 2014 when Russia started the war in Ukraine and annexed Crimea. Cooperation with the Russian space sector continued after Russia destroyed the Cosmos-1408 satellite in 2021. Its explosion has resulted in over 1,500 pieces of space debris posing a threat to ISS and other satellites. International partners ignored the fact that Roscomos itself is an integral part of Russia’s war machine. For example, it’s currently working on producing 46 intercontinental ballistic missiles. Another fact that remained ignored for a long time despite all the compliance rules was the unprecedented level of corruption in Roscosmos and the Russian space sector. Besides other cases, a vivid illustration of misconduct was the scandal involving the Vostochny cosmodrome project, where $170 million were stolen.

The global shift in attitude towards Russia and its space sector happened on February 24, 2022, when Russia started a full-scale war against Ukraine. Governments and international organisations imposed numerous waves of sanctions against the Russian Federation; at the same time, hundreds of international companies started eliminating connections to the “Russian world”. Space businesses and space programs also experienced the consequences of Russia’s war and sanctions. British-Indian OneWeb has stopped using Russian launch services and found a replacement for the Soyuz rocket. The European Space Agency has suspended the ExoMars programme that was developed with Russian participation. Sweden has cancelled the launch of its research satellite on the Soyuz rocket. German DLR Aerospace Center has switched off its eROSITA telescope aboard the Russia-built Spectr-RG satellite orbiting Earth. Japanese Synspective ceased all Russian Soyuz satellite missions. These are only some examples of the global trend in which the space companies of the civilised world cut cooperation with Russian barbarians.

There are three main reasons for the companies from the civilised world to suspend cooperation with Russian space. First of all, such cooperation is partly prohibited due to numerous sanctions imposed against Russia by the US, EU, NATO member states and other countries. The second reason is reputation, as financing the Russian space industry by exporting technologies and products of the space sector actually means providing money and resources Russians use to fuel the war and sponsoring murders of innocent people in Ukraine. It’s worth mentioning that according to some estimates, Roscosmos earns about $400 million or more annually for the delivery of NASA astronauts to the ISS, Lockheed Martin has paid over $1 billion for the Russian 101 RD-180 engines, and every launch of the Soyuz vehicle costs around $40 million. The third reason is to prevent industrial espionage and leaks of space technologies and intellectual property to Russia. This project aims to provide the whole picture of the Russian space sector and details on each company that is a part of the Russian space scene or works for Russian space but pretends to be a Western company. Now, the international partners, analysts, journalists and civil society can quickly get the necessary information on Russian space companies and check their partners, subsidiaries and clients. We believe it would help to make informed decisions about existing or potential partnerships and cooperation and further promote the total isolation of Russian space companies and their space sector.