MOSCOW, February 25. /TASS/. Russia’s space industry continues developing and some projects are being implemented successfully, despite failures in this sphere, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday.
The presidential spokesman thus commented on media reports about problems with engines for Proton-M carrier rockets.
As the Kremlin spokesman said, "one can hardly speak only about failures [in the space industry]." "The space program is designated for a long perspective and consists of a large number of projects, some of which are being implemented quite successfully," he said, stressing that Russian President Vladimir Putin was paying primary importance to the sector, which continued developing.
"No doubt, there are failures but there is also something that can be called a big success and the sector is developing," the Kremlin spokesman said.
The presidential spokesman said at the same time it would be inappropriate during a news briefing to give a professional evaluation of the work of Russia’s State Space Corporation Roscosmos "because this work is very tremendous, very complex and very difficult."
The Russian business daily Kommersant reported on Wednesday that Roscosmos had decided to recall all the engines of the second and the third stages of Proton-M carrier rockets to the Voronezh Mechanical Factory. As the paper said, the decision was due to technological problems revealed during firing tests. Kommersant further said these checks might affect the timeframe of launches and the first launch of a Proton carrier rocket this year scheduled for February might take place no sooner than summer.
Roscosmos said on Wednesday possible delays in the launches of Proton-M carrier rockets were related to additional tests and checks of the quality of products in the space industry.
"The main thing is not to hurry and get convinced once again that the hardware is fully reliable and the materials, from which it is produced, fully comply with statutory procedures," Roscosmos said.