Russia to prioritize satellites developmentMarch 22, 2012 - 20:28 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Russia will prioritize the development of its satellites over manned spaceflight, aiming to boost the country’s economy, the head of the Federal Space Agency Vladimir Popovkin said on Thursday, March 22, RIA Novosti reported. “Our main priority is not manned spaceflight, launch vehicles or space infrastructure, but the creation of an orbital cluster that would help improve people’s lives,” Vladimir Popovkin said at a conference in Moscow. “Farmers, businessmen and individuals alike should profit from results of [our] space activity,” he said, naming weather satellites and the Glonass navigation system as two important components of the orbital cluster to get special attention in the future. The new priorities are outlined in the agency’s space exploration strategy until 2030, which was filed with the government in mid-March, Popovkin said. He did not specify when the document will be publicly released. The program seeks to boost Russia’s share of the global space market from 0.5 percent to 10 percent, increasing the number of home-made satellites, sending a man to the Moon, establishing a permanent mission on Mars and sending probes to Venus and Jupiter, according to Kommersant, which obtained the draft of the document. Top stories Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". The earthquake caused a temporary blackout, damaged many buildings and closed a number of rural roads. Partner news | The Power of One Dram to benefit Road of Life charity The companies inform that the May beneficiary of The Power of One Dram is the “Road of Life” charitable organization. Ucom General Director gives lecture at French University in Armenia The General Director of Ucom Ralph Yirikian delivered a lecture at the French University of Armenia. Kazakhstan welcomes Yerevan, Baku’s agreement to meet in Almaty Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has welcomed the agreement of Baku and Yerevan to hold negotiations in Almaty. Armenia offers to temporarily host, preserve Gaza manuscripts The Armenian Foreign Minister has said Yerevan is ready to help preserve manuscripts from the conflict zone in Gaza. |