MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The Russian space agency Roscosmos will set up a company that will market all commercial launches by Russian providers, the agency’s spokesman told a local newspaper.
"We are discussing plans to form a single operator to process commercial orders as part of a reform in the space industry," Roscosmos spokesman Igor Burenkov told Izvestia in an interview published Monday.
Burenkov said the step was "logical" because it would allow Russia’s state companies in the space industry to penetrate the global launch vehicle market in a more coordinated way, specifically considering how competitive it has become.
According to Izvestia, Russian launch providers have been fending for themselves in the launch business for decades. The idea to bring them all together under an umbrella marketing organization was first floated in 2011.
