The Russian Federal Space Agency, formerly the Russian Aviation and Space Agency (RKA) (in Russian: Российское авиационно-космическое агентство) is the government agency responsible for Russia's space science program and general aerospace research.

History

RKA was formed after the breakup of the former Soviet Union and the dissolution of the Soviet space program. The RKA uses the technology and launch sites that belonged to the former Soviet space program. The RKA has centralized control of Russia's civilian space program, including all manned and unmanned nonmilitary space flights.

The Russian Space Agency, as the Soviet space program before it, have been consistently dogged by a lack of funding which has complicated efforts from the moon mission to cooperation on the International Space Station.

Current programs

The Russian Space Agency is one of NASA's partners in the International Space Station (ISS) program. RKA also provides space tourism for fare-paying passengers to ISS through the Space Adventures company.

RKA also operates a number of other programs for earth science, communication, and scientific research.

Administration

The headquarters of the Russian Aviation and Space Agency are in Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan.

The RKA is headed by Anatoly Perminov, whose duties roughly parallel that of the NASA Administrator. The RKA employs about 300 people, as much of the work is contracted out. The prime contractor used by the RKA is the Energiya Rocket and Space Complex, which owns and operates the Mission Control Center in Korolev and takes part in International Space Station project. Energiya's previous task was operating the Mir space station. The company developed the powerful Energiya booster which is a heavy launch vehicle and was used to propel the shuttle Buran into space.

Launch Control

The military counterpart of the RKA is the Military Space Forces (VKS). The VKS controls Russia's Plesetsk Cosmodrome launch facility. The RKA and VKS share control of the Baikonur Cosmodrome, where the RKA reimburses the VKS for the wages of many of the flight controllers during civilian launches. The RKA and VKS also share control of the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center.

External Links

• Российское авиационно-космическое агентство - RKA home page in Russian
• Russian Aviation and Space Agency - Home page in English
• NASA summary