President Vladimir Putin dismissed Roscosmos chief Yury Borisov, the Kremlin said Thursday, after a period of 2 and a half years marked by enthusiastic plans and significant problems at the Russian area agency.Borisov was changed by Dmitry Bakanov, a former deputy transport minister and head of the state-backed satellite interactions company Gonets.The Kremlin said it hadno grievances versus Borisov and explained thereshuffle as aplanned rotation.The corporation requires vibrant advancement, which is why these workers modifications are taking place, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.A previous deputy defense minister under Sergei Shoigu, Borisov was appointed to lead Roscosmos in July 2022, months after Russias invasion of Ukraine isolated it from Western space programs.Under his tenure, Russias first independent Moon exploration objective in decades ended in failure when the Luna-25 probe crashed in August 2023.
The area firm also faced corruption scandals, the loss of satellites and other spacecraft, in addition to a lack of innovation and worldwide partnerships.Borisov had actually approved plans to introduce the very first two modules of a Russian spaceport station in 2027 after the European Space Agency cut cooperation with Moscow on Moon and Mars missions.
While Russia has promised to remain on the International Space Station till 2028, its long-term role in space remains uncertain.Bakanov, the inbound Roscosmos chief, formerly led Gonets, which had a joint venture with satellite internet start-up OneWeb till Russias Federal Security Service (FSB) scrapped the project in 2018 over espionage concerns.