Home › Library › Space Agencies › Roscosmos
🏛️ Space Agency

Roscosmos — Roscosmos State Corporation for Space Activities

Heir to the Soviet space programme — operator of the legendary Soyuz system, GLONASS navigation, and ISS partner, now pivoting to sovereign capabilities at Vostochny.

Roscosmos (Роскосмос) is Russia's state space corporation — heir to the Soviet space programme, reorganised in its current form in 2015 from the agency founded in 1992. It operates the GLONASS navigation constellation, the Soyuz crewed spacecraft and Russia's segment of the International Space Station.

Profile figures verified September 2026 · fleet and crew counts on this page update automatically from live tracking data.

Live Trackers
🏠 ISS Tracker

Overview

🇷🇺
Russia
$3.6B
Budget (2025)
1992
Founded
—
Active Satellites
—
Crew in Space

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

ParameterDetail
Full NameRoscosmos State Corporation for Space Activities
AbbreviationRoscosmos
CountryRussia
HeadquartersMoscow, Russia
Founded1992
HeadYuri Borisov (Director General)
Budget~$3.6B (2025)
Staff~170,000
Crewed CapabilityYes — independent crewed launch
Websitewww.roscosmos.ru

Key Programmes

Soyuz Crewed Missions

The Soyuz spacecraft and rocket system. The capsule is the most-flown crewed vehicle in history with 177 missions, and the rocket has launched 1,183 times. 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:

SpaceportRole
Baikonur CosmodromeWorld's first spaceport — leased from Kazakhstan until 2050
Vostochny CosmodromeRussia's new sovereign spaceport in the Far East

Launch Vehicles

VehicleRole
Soyuz-2Workhorse launcher, current Soyuz variant
Angara-A5New heavy-lift replacement for Proton

Timeline

1957
Sputnik — world's first artificial satellite (Soviet programme)
1961
Yuri Gagarin — first human in space (Vostok 1)
1971
Salyut 1 — world's first space station
1986
Mir space station launched — operated until 2001
1992
Roscosmos established after Soviet dissolution
1998
ISS assembly begins with Russian Zarya module
2016
First launch from Vostochny Cosmodrome
2022
International sanctions end Western launches from Baikonur
💡 Did You Know?
The Soyuz rocket has flown 1,183 missions since 1966, more than any other launch vehicle in history. Its basic design has remained remarkably unchanged for nearly 60 years.
Related agencies: 🇺🇸 NASA · 🇨🇳 CNSA · 🇪🇺 ESA · View all agencies →
🛰️

Roscosmos fleet — live snapshot

Satellites operated by Roscosmos State Corporation that are currently tracked in orbit, counted live from the catalogue and attributed by mission/programme — including veteran spacecraft still on orbit. Commercial constellations of the same nation are excluded — these are Roscosmos's own spacecraft. Figures update automatically.

252
Agency-operated satellites
live from the tracked catalogue
140
GLONASS navigation
operational, counted live
3
Crew in space now
agency nationals currently in orbit
#1
Rank by tracked fleet
of 14 flagship agencies

Fleet rank counts spacecraft tracked in orbit, including long-serving satellites from earlier decades that remain on orbit.

📡

Roscosmos at a glance

👩‍🚀3Crew in space now
💰$3.6BAnnual budget · 2025
📅1992Founded
🏢MoscowHeadquarters
🌍

Roscosmos fleet by orbit

252 operated
  • LEO 97 38%
  • MEO 143 57%
  • GEO 12 5%
⚖️

Roscosmos head-to-head

How Roscosmos compares with the agencies it is most often measured against. Fleet figures are counted live from the tracked catalogue.

Roscosmos vs NASA

🇷🇺 Roscosmos🇺🇸 NASA
Tracked fleet (live)25237
Annual budget$3.6B (2025)$25.4B (2025)
Founded19921958
Crewed spaceflightYesYes
Flagship programmeGLONASS navigationScience, exploration & Earth observation
HeadquartersMoscowWashington, D.C.
📊

Roscosmos vs other space agencies

Agency Country Tracked fleet Flagship Budget Founded
🇷🇺 Roscosmos you are here Russia 252 GLONASS navigation $3.6B 1992
🇨🇳 CNSA China 248 BeiDou navigation $14B 1993
🇮🇳 ISRO India 74 NavIC navigation $1.9B 1969
🇪🇺 ESA Europe (23 states) 57 Galileo navigation €7.8B 1975
🇮🇹 ASI Italy 39 COSMO-SkyMed €1.5B 1988
🇺🇸 NASA United States 37 — $25.4B 1958
🇰🇷 KASA South Korea 19 KOMPSAT (Arirang) $0.7B 2024
🇯🇵 JAXA Japan 18 QZSS (Michibiki) $3.2B 2003
🇧🇷 AEB Brazil 9 — $0.12B 1994
🇫🇷 CNES France 8 — €3.3B 1961
🇵🇰 SUPARCO Pakistan 7 — $0.045B 1961
🇨🇦 CSA Canada 5 RADARSAT C$0.43B 1989
🇬🇧 UKSA United Kingdom 4 — £0.83B 2010
🇩🇪 DLR Germany 2 — €2.6B 1969

Tap a column to sort · "≈" marks an approximate fleet pending live catalogue confirmation · counts are agency-operated spacecraft tracked in orbit (veteran satellites included, commercial constellations excluded) · figures verified September 2026, updated daily.

❓

Roscosmos — frequently asked questions

What does Roscosmos mean?

Roscosmos (Роскосмос) is a contraction of the Russian for 'Russian space' — Rossiyskiy kosmos. Its full name is the Roscosmos State Corporation for Space Activities. It is Russia's national space organisation, formed as an agency in 1992 after the Soviet space programme and converted into a state corporation in 2015.

Is Roscosmos a government agency?

Since 2015 Roscosmos has been a state corporation rather than a conventional government agency — a state-owned entity that consolidates Russia's space industry, including rocket manufacturers and design bureaus, under one roof. It answers directly to the Russian government.

What is Russia's equivalent of NASA?

Roscosmos is Russia's equivalent of NASA. It runs Russia's crewed programme (the Soyuz spacecraft and cosmonaut corps), the GLONASS navigation system, and launches from the Baikonur and Vostochny cosmodromes.

Does Roscosmos still fly astronauts to the ISS?

Yes. Soyuz spacecraft continue to carry crews to the International Space Station, and NASA and Roscosmos still exchange seats — American astronauts fly on Soyuz and Russian cosmonauts on Crew Dragon — keeping both crew transport systems familiar to each partner.

🔗

Explore Roscosmos on Orbital Radar

🏛️All space agenciesCompare every national space programme→📡ISS trackerLive tracker→🌐RussiaNational fleet→🚀SoyuzLaunch vehicle→📡GPS Satellite trackerLive tracker→📅Launch logRecent Roscosmos launches→
🏛️ Compare All Space Agencies
24 agency profiles with budgets, missions, satellites and live data.
Space Agencies Hub →
Related Pages
🇰🇿
Baikonur
The world's first spaceport
→
🇷🇺
Vostochny
Russia's new cosmodrome
→
🏠
ISS Tracker
Track the station live
→
🇷🇺
Soyuz
Most-flown rocket in history
→
Related in the Library
NASA
→
ESA
→
CNSA
→
ISRO
→
Last updated:

Cite this page

Pick a style, then copy it or download it for your reference manager.

Orbital Radar. (2026, September 12). Roscosmos — Roscosmos State Corporation for Space Activities. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://orbitalradar.com/space-agencies/roscosmos

“Roscosmos — Roscosmos State Corporation for Space Activities.” Orbital Radar, 12 Sept. 2026, orbitalradar.com/space-agencies/roscosmos. Accessed 3 Nov. 2026.

Orbital Radar (2026) Roscosmos — Roscosmos State Corporation for Space Activities. Available at: https://orbitalradar.com/space-agencies/roscosmos (Accessed: 3 November 2026).

Orbital Radar. “Roscosmos — Roscosmos State Corporation for Space Activities.” Last modified September 12, 2026. https://orbitalradar.com/space-agencies/roscosmos.

@misc{orbitalradar_space_agencies_roscosmos,
  author       = {{Orbital Radar}},
  title        = {Roscosmos — Roscosmos State Corporation for Space Activities},
  year         = {2026},
  month        = sep,
  howpublished = {\url{https://orbitalradar.com/space-agencies/roscosmos}},
  url          = {https://orbitalradar.com/space-agencies/roscosmos},
  urldate      = {2026-11-03},
  note         = {Accessed 2026-11-03}
}
TY  - ELEC
AU  - Orbital Radar,
TI  - Roscosmos — Roscosmos State Corporation for Space Activities
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/09/12
PB  - Orbital Radar
UR  - https://orbitalradar.com/space-agencies/roscosmos
Y2  - 2026/11/03
LA  - en
ER  -
Download RISFor Zotero, EndNote and Mendeley

Live figures change, so keep the date you accessed the page. How to cite Orbital Radar