With Financial Crisis As Backdrop, Russia Outlines Busy 2009 Agenda

摘要

The global financial crisis notwithstanding, 2009 is shaping up as a busy year for Russia's hu- man spaceflight program, with four Soyuz TMA crew capsules scheduled to launch to the inter- national space station along with six Progress cargo craft. At the same time, the Russian space agency, Roskosmos, is slated to broker another major consolida-tion of Russia's space industry and to take bids for a new cosmonaut- launching system. The 10 space station missions will be among 39 Russian space launches planned for the year, ac- cording to Roskosmos Director- General Anatoly Perminov. "This is difficult but doable," Perminov told reporters here Dec. 29, ac- cording to Roskosmos' official Web site.