Russia's Aerospace Industry – A Bumpy Growth

The Cold War was an important factor in determining the progress of the two superpowers and their respective allies. The race to win and secure the position of the hegemon was not limited to military but also economics and politics. The outer space became one such arena where the two superpowers sought to gain superiority in technology, its military firepower and therefore, by extension - the political economic system. The modern age of space exploration was thus started by the actions of two countries and has thus led to revolutionization of the space.

The history of Russia's space efforts started post the end of World War II when both US and USSR captured the rockets and rocket parts. While both the countries had tried their hands in making rockets, post the WW II with the help of the captured German scientists, both the countries started doing test rocket launches. On 4th of October in 1957, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik, the world's first Intercontinental Ballistic Missile. This was hailed a successful win for Russians not only in the space industry but also geopolitically, as it triumphed over the United State. Post Sputnik, in 1961, the Soviets launched the first man into space - Yuri Gagarin - the first person to travel into outer space and the first to orbit the planet. If this feat was not enough, the Russians sent the first woman into space in 1963. Thus, Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman to travel to outer space.

But the America just like the Soviet Union was trying to land on the moon. While both the countries stood an equal chance, it was the American who won the space race when Apollo carrying Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed on the moon on July 3, 1969. But what many do not know that 17 days before the Apollo was supposed to land on the moon, USSR too had made an attempt to reach the moon and had failed miserably. The Soviet Union's lunar program failed but there was not just one element which the scholars can blame.

The Soviet Union started the work on its space program three years late, as compared to the American. Soviet Chief Designer Sergei Korolev who presided over the country's largest missile and space was successful in getting the approval for series of heavy lift rocket called N (N stood for nosityel or “carrier” in Russian). While the plans to build the space program started off, there was lack of internal project management. Added to this was the mismanagement of the Soviet Defense industry.

The Soviet Union certainly lacked the economic and technological superiority which the American had. While Korolev was building the N-1 moon rocket, they also were producing the first-generation solid propellant ICBM. The investment in ICBM were high and the tumbling Soviet economy still aimed to focus more on the nuclear weapons development so that the Soviet military could achieve strategic equivalency with United. This took away money from the space program. Due to lack of funding, the Soviets decided to forgo the first stage testing. Therefore, all the four attempts were all failures. Hence, the lunar program was doomed.

One cannot ignore that the Kremlin interfered a lot in the space race but corrupt bureaucracy and internal mismanagement was also the cause of the failure of the lunar program. Moscow was also a socialist country, and with the fall of USSR and Russian and economy was dwindling. But USSR's collapse also brought in new opportunities in terms of cooperation in the aerospace sector. The end of the Cold War saw cooperation between Russia and United States in the area of space sector. While Russia might have had budget constraints and system failures; it did not lack in the arena of expertise. Building on this this foundation, both the countries signed a bilateral trade treaty where they commercialized the satellite launch services. This paved way for International Space Station which is publicly handled and also NASA and Russian Space Agency (public-private) cooperation. The peak of the public-public cooperation for Russia was the eventual exclusive use of Soyuz to resupply and staff the ISS following the second shuttle accident in 2002. Overall, the Soyuz System has been remarkably successful over its lifetime.

While the international cooperation in the Russian aerospace industry increased, Russia's internal space success slowly started pulling its socks up. GLONASS, Russia's Global Navigation Satellite System was designed for the use by the Russian Aerospace Forces. It is now fully commercialized international system for navigation and timing and widely accepted by the international order.

Another development at the domestic level for Russia has been the joint partnerships between private and public companies. While private companies are allowed to operate in the Russian market, the Kremlin has a tight grip over them. Post-Cold War, it was a tough job for the private companies in the space sector to move towards a liberalized order from a socialist one. But the companies have exhibited a good tendency and, in a way, survived by expanding their market share by not only aligning with Russian public aerospace companies but also international aerospace companies. More than 75 percent of ISPs of Russian aerospace companies are with firms from Western Europe and Asia. The reason for less concentration of business in its own country is because the government still continues to control the private companies.

Russian aerospace organizations seem to have developed some distinct core competencies, such as state-of-the-art technology, capacity to manufacture high-performance products and systems at relatively low-costs, and pragmatic management by learning from their past mistakes. Along with this, the Russians are also good in creating excellent networks of supply, R&D centers, ventures partners among other things. But at the same time, the Russian companies, especially the private sector, lacks funding an FDI. Hence, joint ventures and partnerships have emerged as a good option for the Russian companies to not only secure capital but also be relevant by using latest technology. For example - Kaliningrad based firm Energia established a joint venture Energia Deutschland GmbH in Germany. The main strategic objective of the newly created company is to secure access to sources of capital.

Given all the strengths of the Russian human capital, one expects the Russian aerospace industry to be flourishing. But the lack of funding has caused degradation to national constellations, infrastructure, and personnel. There is only that much one can rely on joint ventures and cooperation agreements after all. The lack of funding is also setting back design and manufacturing facilities. At the same time, the falling reliability of the customers on the Russian products due to lack of technological development is not only leading to the industry losing market share but also geopolitical stance.

This has made a career in Russian space industry unattractive for the young generation and less people opt for it. This is a cause of concern for the country which once was contender for the space race, as the old population, who were experts in the field, are slowly reducing. Mixed with rampant corruption and reduced budgets, the constant reorganization of the space industry has disabled the Russian aerospace industry to gain any form of stability. Between 2012 to 2015, United Rocket and Space Corporation was set up and had the rights over space assets and agency. But its inefficiency led to a reorganization and Roscosmos, state corporation was set up. All of the space industry in now united under this corporation which not only oversees the space projects but also makes business and procurement decisions and acts like a parent organization. The current head of Roscosmos, Igor Komarov, is the fourth space head since 2009 and the constant change in leadership has also proved to be a setback and have done little to improve the situation.

The Russian effort, however, to build a private Russian Space sector in Skolkovo has been seen as a sign of progress. It invites participants to be a part of various technological domains related to space where they can find investments, partners and clients in the world market. But the Russians cannot claim this as a victory but just a step in the right direction.

Since the collapse of USSR, the aerospace industry has grown by leaps and bounds. Russia is focused on not establishing a private space sector and neither it moving in direction of giving the companies funding. Skolkovo's space cluster while seems like a good idea on paper and may have made advances in reality, sadly it is not enough. Therefore, the Russian aerospace industry seems to be in a deep crisis, despite the positive show put on by the Putin government. Russia needs to protect its aerospace industry and nurture it by protecting it from its own system and at the same rebuilding it in a way where it can compete in the global market and space industry. While this seems like a best-case scenario, it seems highly unlikely to take shape as reality. The worst-case scenario looks at the collapse of the space industry together; which too is highly unlikely given that there has been a show put up Russia with its meagre development. Therefore, one cannot see the state of Russian aerospace industry beyond its stagnation, which is a cause of concern as it not only is a stain on the old USSR legacy but also Russia's already falling global position.

 Pic Courtesy-Timusic Photographs at unsplash.com

(The views expressed are personal opinion of the author and do not represent the views of CESCUBE or its officials.)