This year, Russia has set an anti-record for the number of space launches. In 2020, the country carried out only 17 launches. This was only at the dawn of astronautics, in 1957-1961, reports RIA Novosti .
A total of 114 launches were made in the world, of which 44 were American and 39 were Chinese. Head of Space Policy Institute Ivan Moiseev that this situation is caused not only by the pandemic, but also by a general decrease in the number of commercial launches using Russian missiles. p >
According to him, this trend has been going on since 2014. “This is mainly due to the loss of the international space launch market,” the agency quotes Moiseyev. Another reason for the anti-record, as noted by the expert, is the “traditional” delay of launches under the Federal Space Program.
Earlier, the head of Roscosmos state corporation Dmitry Rogozin said that in a year Russia carried out half as many launches as planned. “In certain difficult circumstances, all economies of the world were forced to adjust their plans,” he explained.