Director says Roscosmos to switch to paid services

KOROLYOV, Moscow Region, Oct 27 (PRIME) -- Space agency Roscosmos will gradually switch to paid space services, Director Yury Borisov said on Friday after a meeting with President Vladimir Putin, who said that Roscosmos fulfills state orders for free, depriving private companies of access to the state order which undermines competition and the product quality.

"The main thing is that the corresponding legal changes to improve the situation have already been made, we will gradually switch to commercial space service provision,” Borisov told reporters.

“This is the main condition that will form the market and the rules of the game."

Russia must create a new model for the industry, attract private companies, non-state financing, create facilities with serial output, he said.

Putin said that Russia needs more active space services exports to the states of the CIS, the Eurasian Economic Union, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and BRICS.

The country must also pursue development of space cooperation, fine-tune the market mechanisms so that private companies could compete for state orders, he said.

End