Roscosmos
Russia’s state corporation responsible for civil spaceflight, launch services, human space programs, satellites and aerospace research.
Last updated August 26, 2026
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Overview
Roscosmos is the state corporation of the Russian Federation responsible for civil space activities, including crewed and uncrewed launches, spacecraft development, orbital infrastructure, satellite systems, scientific missions and parts of Russia’s broader aerospace sector. It inherited much of the Soviet space program after the dissolution of the USSR, but unlike the Soviet system—whose major design bureaux and political bodies operated through a distributed structure—modern Russia created a central civilian space agency in 1992. The organization was established on 25 February 1992 as the Russian Space Agency by presidential decree. It was subsequently reorganized as the Russian Aviation and Space Agency in 1999 and as the Federal Space Agency, commonly branded Roscosmos, in 2004. In response to repeated launch failures, fragmented industrial management and concerns about reliability and duplication, Russia created the United Rocket and Space Corporation in 2013. The Federal Space Agency was then abolished as a separate state agency and merged into a state corporation effective 1 January 2016. This structure brought much of the space industry back under state control while retaining the Roscosmos name. Roscosmos operates or supports launch activity from several major facilities. Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, leased by Russia, remains the historic and principal site for many crewed Soyuz launches. Plesetsk Cosmodrome in Arkhangelsk Oblast is used primarily for military and satellite missions, while Vostochny Cosmodrome in Amur Oblast is intended to provide Russia with an additional sovereign launch base. Mission Control is located in the Moscow region and Star City remains a major center for cosmonaut training. The corporation’s principal launch vehicles include the Soyuz-2 family, the heavy-lift Proton-M, and the Angara family, including Angara 1.2 and Angara A5. Roscosmos also inherited the long-running Soyuz crewed spacecraft and Progress cargo spacecraft programs. Soyuz became the main crew-transport system for the International Space Station after the retirement of the US Space Shuttle and supported continuous human presence on the ISS together with NASA and other partners. Russia contributed seven modules to the station’s Russian Orbital Segment, beginning with Zarya in 1998. Before the ISS, Russia operated Mir, the first modular space station, whose service life was extended well beyond its original design period. Beyond launch and human spaceflight, Roscosmos administers satellite and scientific programs. Its responsibilities have included GLONASS navigation satellites, communications spacecraft, meteorological satellites, Earth-observation systems, astronomy missions and planetary exploration. The Luna-Glob program seeks to revive Russian lunar exploration after the Soviet period; Luna 25 failed during its 2023 landing attempt. Earlier Russian or Russian-led planetary missions such as Mars 96 and Fobos-Grunt also failed, while the joint European-Russian ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter successfully reached Mars in 2016. International relations have strongly shaped Roscosmos’s recent position. Sanctions following Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea and, more extensively, the 2022 invasion of Ukraine disrupted launch, engine-supply and scientific cooperation. Roscosmos ended Soyuz launches from the Guiana Space Centre and suspended or terminated several cooperative arrangements with European and American organizations. ESA suspended cooperation on ExoMars. Roscosmos has instead emphasized cooperation with China, including a proposed International Lunar Research Station, and has promoted plans for a Russian Orbital Station after the eventual end of Russia’s ISS participation. As of February 2025, the corporation’s director is Dmitry Bakanov.
History
Roscosmos emerged from the institutional disruption that followed the Soviet Union’s dissolution. The Soviet space program had not been managed by a single civilian agency; design bureaux, industrial organizations, military structures and political committees shared authority. The Russian Federation therefore created a new central body rather than simply continuing the former system. On 25 February 1992, President Boris Yeltsin established the Russian Space Agency, and Yuri Koptev became its first director. The agency’s first decade was marked by financial pressure and limited authority. Industrial design bureaux competed for scarce funding and retained considerable independence. Commercial launch contracts and international partnerships became important sources of activity and revenue, while scientific and interplanetary missions received less attention. Even under these conditions, Russia maintained the Mir space station beyond its planned service life, continued Soyuz and Progress flights, and renewed the lease for Baikonur Cosmodrome with Kazakhstan in 1994. Roscosmos’s international importance increased through the ISS partnership. On 31 October 2000, a Soyuz spacecraft carried NASA astronaut William Shepherd and cosmonauts Sergei Krikalev and Yuri Gidzenko to the station. They arrived on 2 November, establishing the first long-term human occupation of the ISS. During the 2000s, improved Russian economic conditions supported increased spending on launch vehicles, GLONASS, communications satellites, weather spacecraft and scientific programs. Roscosmos also operated or supported missions including RadioAstron, Spektr-RG, Bion-M and the Elektro-L meteorological series. Management changed repeatedly as reliability and governance became political concerns. Anatoly Perminov replaced Koptev in 2004, and Vladimir Popovkin replaced Perminov in 2011. The loss of Fobos-Grunt in 2011, together with a series of Proton-M failures in 2013–2015, intensified criticism of industrial quality, aging facilities, weak oversight and fragmented corporate structures. The government created the United Rocket and Space Corporation in 2013 and consolidated rocket-engine enterprises in 2015. A 2015 decree abolished the Federal Space Agency as an independent body; on 1 January 2016, its functions moved to the state corporation now known as Roscosmos. Under Igor Komarov and then Dmitry Rogozin, Roscosmos pursued state consolidation, the Angara family, new launch infrastructure at Vostochny and longer-term crewed lunar ambitions. It also faced criticism over losses, alleged waste and corruption, as well as delays and technical failures. Roscosmos withdrew from NASA’s Lunar Gateway project in 2020 and signed a lunar-research memorandum with China in 2021. It announced plans for a Russian Orbital Station as a successor or alternative to continued participation in the ISS. The invasion of Ukraine in 2022 sharply reduced Roscosmos’s Western cooperation. European and American relationships were affected by sanctions, launch suspensions, engine-supply cancellations and the breakdown of ExoMars cooperation. Russia continued to operate its ISS obligations for a period while redirecting strategic attention toward independent launch capability, domestic satellite systems, lunar exploration, the Angara program and cooperation with China. The Luna 25 failure in 2023 demonstrated the continuing technical difficulty of restoring Russia’s independent planetary exploration capability. Dmitry Bakanov became director in February 2025.
- 2025
Dmitry Bakanov becomes director
[1]Bakanov takes over leadership of Roscosmos in February.
- 2023
Luna 25 fails during landing attempt
[1]The lunar lander is lost after a maneuvering anomaly before its planned landing.
- 2021
Lunar research cooperation with China announced
[1]Roscosmos and China’s space agency announce cooperation on an International Lunar Research Station.
- 2019
Spektr-RG launched
[1]The space observatory is launched for high-energy astronomical observations.
- 2016
Roscosmos state corporation begins operations
[1]The Federal Space Agency is replaced by a state corporation incorporating the Roscosmos brand.
- 2013
United Rocket and Space Corporation created
[1]The Russian government establishes a corporation to consolidate the fragmented space industry.
- 2000
Permanent ISS human presence begins
[1]Soyuz TM-31 delivers the first Expedition crew to the ISS.
- 1998
Zarya begins Russia’s ISS module contribution
[1]Zarya becomes the first module of the International Space Station and the foundation of the Russian Orbital Segment.
- 1994
Baikonur lease renewed
[1]Russia renews its operating arrangement for Baikonur Cosmodrome with Kazakhstan.
- 1992
Russian Space Agency established
[1]Russia creates a central civilian space agency after the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
Products and positioning
A state-led, vertically coordinated Russian space organization combining civil space policy, launch operations, spacecraft production, human spaceflight, satellite systems and national space exploration.
Launch vehicle · 2004
Soyuz-2
A medium-lift expendable launch-vehicle family descended from the Soviet Soyuz design. Roscosmos uses Soyuz-2 variants for crewed spacecraft, cargo vehicles, satellites and commercial or institutional payloads. Its long operational history and broad launch infrastructure have made it one of the central pillars of Russia’s space program.
Crewed spacecraft · 2016
Soyuz MS
The current generation of Russia’s Soyuz crew spacecraft. Soyuz MS transports cosmonauts and international astronauts between Earth and low Earth orbit, especially the ISS, and retains the basic architecture of the historically important Soyuz program while incorporating updated avionics, navigation and communications systems.
Cargo spacecraft · 2015
Progress MS
An uncrewed logistics spacecraft derived from Soyuz. Progress MS delivers propellant, food, equipment and scientific cargo to orbital stations and can provide station reboost capability. It has been a regular part of Russian support for the ISS and earlier Soviet-Russian stations.
Launch vehicle · 2014
Angara family
A modular family of Russian launch vehicles intended to replace several older systems and enable launches from Russian territory. The family includes the small-lift Angara-1.2 and heavy-lift Angara A5. Its development has been tied to the strategic goal of reducing reliance on Baikonur and modernizing Russia’s launch infrastructure.
Satellite navigation system · 1993
GLONASS
Russia’s global satellite-navigation constellation and one of the country’s long-term national space priorities. Roscosmos has supported spacecraft development and replenishment for the system, which provides positioning, navigation and timing services independently of other global navigation networks.
Planetary exploration program · 2023
Luna-Glob
A Russian lunar-exploration program intended to revive the country’s lunar science and landing capabilities after the Soviet period. Its first major mission, Luna 25, attempted a polar landing in 2023 but was lost. Proposed follow-on work includes orbital observation, polar landers and possible sample-return activities.
Controversies
2018
Criticism over losses, waste and corruption
Russia’s public audit authorities criticized Roscosmos for high losses, irrational spending and alleged corruption, adding to pressure on the corporation’s leadership and governance.
2013
Proton-M launch failure and space-sector governance crisis
A Proton-M launch failure intensified criticism of Roscosmos and the wider Russian space industry, contributing to a government decision to consolidate the sector and increase state supervision.
Brand decisions
2022
End or suspend several Western launch and exploration partnershipsStrategyBackground
The invasion of Ukraine and resulting sanctions made continued cooperation with European and American organizations politically and operationally difficult.
Action taken
Roscosmos ended Soyuz operations from the Guiana Space Centre, halted selected engine-supply relationships and saw ExoMars cooperation suspended by ESA.
Aftermath
Roscosmos became more internationally isolated and increasingly focused on domestic programs and non-Western partnerships.
2021
Pursue an International Lunar Research Station with ChinaStrategyBackground
As cooperation with several Western partners weakened, Roscosmos sought a new framework for lunar exploration.
Action taken
Roscosmos and the China National Space Administration signed a memorandum on cooperative construction of an International Lunar Research Station.
Aftermath
The agreement became a principal symbol of Russia’s closer space relationship with China.
2020
Withdraw from NASA’s Lunar Gateway cooperationStrategyBackground
Roscosmos had previously signed an agreement concerning the NASA-led lunar-orbiting station but later objected to the project’s structure and direction.
Action taken
Roscosmos declined to continue its participation in Lunar Gateway.
Aftermath
Russia shifted emphasis toward a separate lunar-station concept with China and other partners.
2016
Replace the Federal Space Agency with a state corporationStrategyBackground
Repeated launch failures, fragmented industrial management and concerns about low productivity led the government to pursue renationalization and consolidation.
Action taken
The Federal Space Agency was dissolved and its responsibilities were transferred to the Roscosmos state corporation.
Aftermath
Roscosmos became the central state-controlled organization for Russia’s civil space industry and programs.
Recent events
- 2023
Luna 25 lunar landing mission fails[1]
Product launch · Other
Russia’s first lunar probe in decades crashed after a maneuvering problem during its attempted landing.
- 2021
Roscosmos and China sign lunar research-station cooperation memorandum[1]
M&A · Other
The two organizations announced cooperation on an International Lunar Research Station.
- 2016
Roscosmos becomes a state corporation[1]
Other
The Federal Space Agency was dissolved and its functions moved into the state corporation formed to renationalize and consolidate Russia’s space industry.
- 2013
Russian space-sector reorganization follows launch failures[1]
Leadership change · Other
A series of reliability problems, including a Proton-M failure, prompted the creation of the United Rocket and Space Corporation and a plan to consolidate the industry.
- 2000
Russia begins continuous ISS human-presence operations with Soyuz[1]
Other
Soyuz TM-31 carried the first Expedition crew to the International Space Station, beginning uninterrupted human occupation of the station.
- 1992
Roscosmos is established as Russia’s central civilian space agency[1]
Other
The Russian Space Agency was created by presidential decree after the breakup of the Soviet Union.
Sources1 sources
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