Roscosmos — Roscosmos State Corporation for Space Activities

Overview

Roscosmos is Russia's state space corporation, heir to the Soviet space programme that launched the first satellite (Sputnik, 1957), first human in space (Yuri Gagarin, 1961) and built the Mir space station. Roscosmos manages Russia's civil and commercial space activities, including crewed Soyuz flights to the ISS, the GLONASS navigation constellation, and development of next-generation vehicles.

Russia's space programme has contracted significantly since the Soviet era. International sanctions following the 2022 invasion of Ukraine ended Western commercial launches from Baikonur and suspended cooperation with ESA on ExoMars. Roscosmos continues ISS operations but is developing the ROSS (Russian Orbital Service Station) as an eventual ISS replacement and building the Vostochny Cosmodrome to reduce dependence on leased Baikonur.

Quick Facts

Key Programmes

Soyuz Crewed Missions

The Soyuz spacecraft and rocket system — the most-flown crewed vehicle in history with 2,000+ launches. Continues ISS crew rotation alongside SpaceX Dragon.

GLONASS Navigation

Russia's global navigation satellite system with 24+ operational satellites at ~19,100 km. Provides independent positioning capability.

ISS Partnership

Russia operates the ISS Russian Segment (Zvezda, Nauka, Prichal modules) and provides orbital reboost capability via Progress cargo spacecraft.

Vostochny Development

Building sovereign launch capability at Vostochny including an Angara-A5 heavy-lift pad, reducing reliance on Baikonur.

Angara Rocket Family

Modular rocket family intended to replace Proton for heavy-lift missions. Angara-A5 can deliver 24 tonnes to LEO.

Launch Infrastructure

Roscosmos launches from:

Launch Vehicles

Timeline