Russian President Vladimir Putin (left) at a meeting with the head of the Russian Space Agency and cosmonauts in the situational center at the Kremlin
Photo: Dmitry Azarov
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Putin Shows His Star Cards to America
Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke live from the very heart of Russia, the Kremlin in Moscow, with the cosmonauts in the International Space Center yesterday, which was Cosmonauts Day in Russia. At the same time, he shared states secrets not only with journalists, including Kommersant special correspondent Andrey Kolesnikov, but with NASA as well.
Putin has been congratulating the cosmonauts personally on Cosmonauts Day since 2002. The equipment that allows him to do so is in the situational center of Kremlin Building One, and was installed under Boris Yeltsin.
“Please do not speak loudly,” the engineer in the situational center said loudly. “The sound can be heard in Houston.”
The president wished his guests in the Kremlin a happy holiday, the 45th anniversary of piloted space exploration. They were cosmonauts Sergey Volkov, Sergey Krikalev, Viktor Savinykh, Vasily Tsibliev and Alexey Leonov and head of the Federal Space Agency Anatoly Perminov. Putin said that a connection would be established in a few minutes with the cosmonauts in the space center, Russian Pavel Vinogradov and American Jeff Williams. Perminov added that it would be possible to speak with the three people who just returned to Earth from the station, including Brazilian cosmonaut Marcos Pontes.
Putin asked Perminov about the state of Russian space exploration and the multi-use craft being developed. This was obviously meant to be heard in Houston, since the president knew the answer to his question already.
“A competition i snow underway, Vladimir Vladimirovich,” Perminov told Putin, “for the production of the multiple use craft. There are three main enterprises competing, Energia Space Rocket Corp. together with Korolev Space Corp., Khrunichev State Space Center and Molnia Scientific Production Center. We will consider the closed competition in June and announce the results then. And the spacecraft will definitely be built!”
“In what year approximately?” the president asked.
“It is planned for 2012-2015. It will be ready for use by then,” Perminov answered.
“How is the federal program developing,” the president asked more quietly. “Are there any problems implementing it?”
“The federal program was defended last year in the administration,” Perminov answered equally quietly. “The fields that were somehow insufficiently developed were pointed out by you, especially the GLONASS system [Global Navigational Satellite System], and we hope to conciliate it with the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade and Finance Ministry in the near future and complete the work.”
“Can the industry handle the stepped-up launch of the necessary number?”
The president did not say exactly what was to be launched. In Houston, if they were listening, they understood. For those who don't understand, he was referring to that system's Hurricane satellites.
They were discussing things that were undoubtedly state secrets.
“Yes, we work our production,” Perminov nodded. “The process was controlled directly by [Defense Minister and Deputy Prime Minister] Sergey Borisovich Ivanov. He visited the enterprises. And in Krasnodar Territory all the technical questions have been considered.”
Krasnodar Territory is where Reshetnev Applied Mechanics Scientific Production Center, which is also producing the satellites.
“If we do everything by plan, when will the whole system go into operation?” the president asked.
“If by the plan of the old program, it could only go into operation at the end of 2011, that is, the beginning of 2012.”
“And if we can step up the GLONASS program?”
“Then it will be functional on the territory of the Russian Federation and CIS by the end of 2007!” Perminov answered with pleasure. “And the entire face of the Earsth will be covered in 2009.”
How many satellites have to be in orbit for it do begin functioning?”
Perminov answered that 24 were necessary.
“How many do we have now?”
“We have 16 satellites now.”
He did not mention that only 12 of the 16 were in working order.
“And how many do the Europeans need? The same number?”
“The Europeans need 30 satellites for their system,” Perminov answered.
“And how many have they brought out?”
“One,” Perminov answered after a theatrical pause.
“Maybe we should join forces with them.”
“We're working on it,” Perminov answered cautiously.
It is known that Putin is also working on it and intends to mention the European Space Agency's need to work with the Russian Space Agency in his annual address to the Federal Assembly.
“As far as I know,” the president said very distinctly, apparently for Houston's benefit, “they still want to implement their plan independently.”
“Yes, they want to make the system independent of the U.S. and of Russia,” Perminov answered.
“Galileo.”
“Galileo, yes. It's their right, but technically the situation develops that the commercial sector still has to use all three systems, GLONASS, GPS and Galileo.”
“Our commercial sector should use our system,” Putin said. “We have lots of consumers, let them work with the Russian system.”
“I think our commercial sector will only use our system,” Perminov confirmed. “Its quality will be a level higher by then with the introduction of the new GLONASS-K equipment.”
The president turned to cosmonaut Tsibliev. “Vasily Vasilyevich, how are things at the Cosmonaut Training Center?”
His answer was cut off by Perminov, however, who said that they were connected to the flight control center.
“There is some delay,” an unseen voice said. “The line of connection is going across the U.S. because the space station is located in their observation zone now.”
The president spent seven or eight minutes talking to the astronauts on board the station. He reminded everyone listening that he was speaking to outer space directly from the Kremlin. He asked the American astronaut if the training for the space station was different from that for the shuttle. It was. The Russian cosmonaut invited him to visit them.
Then the president spoke with the cosmonauts who had just returned from the space station.
“The first space flight by a Brazilian citizen is extremely important for my country,” Pontes told the president. “I hope that it will be part of the further improvement of cooperation between Russia and Brazil.”
The president returned to the subject of the training center, and assured Tsibliev that its transfer from the Defense Ministry to the space agency should be painless.
“I received the letter about housing,” the president continued. E will do it, but we need to know want you want, to have something in the center of Moscow or something there.”
He was referring to the Star Town settlement, where the training center is located.
“There,” Tsibliev answered. He employees, missing the chance to own real estate in downtown Moscow by that one word, will remember that word forever.
Then we'll build a new building. And quickly. It's building a house, not flying into outer space.”
“Sometimes it's easier to fly into space,” Perminov observed.
Andrey Kolesnikov
All the Article in Russian as of Apr. 13, 2006
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