KOROLYOV (Moscow Region) (Sputnik) — The United States and China are on course to surpass Russia in the number of space launches for the first time this year, Roscosmos said Tuesday.
"This year we will for the first time have fewer launches than the United States and China," First Deputy Director General Alexander Ivanov said.
Ivanov attributed the trade-off to the prioritization of creating several orbital groups within the Russian space program.
