Russian space agency blames Elon Musk’s SpaceX for declining fortunes

Russian space agency Roscosmos has served to be very beneficial, however, it recently faced a failed rocket launch
03 Dec, 2018

Russian space agency Roscosmos has served to be very beneficial, however, it recently faced a failed rocket launch and has blamed Elon Musk’s SpaceX for its moribund fortunes.

Roscosmos has been an important candidate for NASA to shuttle astronauts and equipments into orbit aboard its Soyuz rocket, which unfortunately went through a failure last month. In a recent report, the space agency is targeting Elon Musk’ SpaceX, blaming it for its misfortunes, reported Bloomberg.

Along with blaming sanctions and weak currency, Roscosmos also blamed SpaceX for its declining fortunes. NASA associate administrator William Gerstenmaier told Bloomberg, “They share some of the same problems we do — there’s a finite amount in the budget in our countries and space flight is part of the discretionary budget,” thus, Russia is ‘obviously concerned’.

Russia unveils plans to build human colony on moon

Back in 2017, Russia’s market share for rocket technology worldwide slightly dropped down, which Roscosmos blamed on sanctions, weak ruble and increased competition. It singled out SpaceX for allegedly undercutting the market because of the US government's assistance it received.

It stated that the usage of cheaper rockets to put slimmed-down satellites to space by start-ups, including SpaceX, is presenting a challenge to Roscosmos’s lucrative launch business.

Meanwhile, today, Roscosmos will again attempt to send its first crew into space aboard a Soyuz rocket after last time’s booster failure.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2018

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