ABSTRACT
The Russian Federation does not have a space strategy in the form of a written legal federal document. When determining long-term goals and objectives in a specific area of the economy or politics, Russian government officials prefer the term “program.” A set of federal programs, such as the Space Program, implements the goals of overall national strategy. The Russian representative to the Legal Subcommittee of the United Nations Committee on Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UNCOPUOS) made the following clarification:
The long-term state strategy pertaining to development of space potential, research and use of outer space for peaceful purposes is determined by the Federal Space Program of the Russian Federation. According to the Law on Space Activities, the Federal Space Program is the document on the basis of which the state procures space hardware for scientific and socioeconomic purposes. 1
The Russian Government made a decision to develop the most recent Federal Space Program (FSP) for 2006 to 2015 in 2003. It took government agencies and major space-related companies more than two years to formulate the government’s directive and draft the space program. Officially, FSP was adopted by the Russian government in 2005. 2 The long list of agencies that participated in drafting the FSP indicates the importance of space activities for economic, civil, and security aspects. The agencies listed below collectively developed the FSP.Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos)
Ministry on Civil Defense, Emergencies, and Dealing with Aftermath of Acts of God
Ministry of Industry and Energy
Ministry of Defense
Ministry of Natural Resources
Ministry of Transportation
Ministry of Information Technologies and Communication
Federal Hydro-Meteorological and Environment Monitoring Service
Federal Fishing Agency
Federal Land Surveying and Cartography Agency
Russian Academy of Science.
