That is why Putin wants to go into space with all his might. After demanding a ceasefire: Israel rejects the EU

Russian President Vladimir Putin is demanding that his country’s space industry function quickly and commercially successfully. He wanted the number of Russian satellites to increase many times, he said during a visit to the space center in Korolyov near Moscow.

But that’s not enough for him. He also wants to make Russian launches cheaper through reusable launch vehicles. And Putin also wants to accelerate with the planned Russian space station. The intention is for the device to be launched into space as early as 2027. Moreover, Russia’s moon program should also continue, despite the loss of the Luna-25 probe last summer.

It is clear: Putin wants to go into space with all his might, even though space travel is and remains expensive. And this despite the difficult economic situation in which his country finds itself. Last but not least, the sanctions imposed by Western countries due to the war in Ukraine are causing problems for Russia. Where do the Kremlin leader’s ambitious plans come from?

Communications and Earth observation satellites

One thing is clear: satellites have become indispensable for military operations. With their help, troops communicate and images from space can be used to detect troop movements and identify targets.

One can only speculate about what other goals Putin is pursuing. The newspaper ‘Bild’ recently reported that the Kremlin head’s entourage had discussed bombing the Ukrainian capital Kiev – using a Soyuz launch vehicle.

As the newspaper further reports, Putin was informed of these plans at the beginning of this year. However, it is not known how the Kremlin boss reacted to the idea of ​​the converted Soyuz rocket and whether such an operation is really realistic.

Space station for surveillance purposes

However, the plans for the Russian space station are becoming increasingly concrete. Presenting a model last year, the Russian space agency Roscosmos said: The station will provide cosmonauts with a much wider view of Earth for monitoring purposes than is currently possible on the ISS.

Dmitry Rogozin, the former head of the Roscosmos hardliner, had suggested that the new space station could also serve a military purpose if necessary.

And what does Russia want on the moon? With this mission, Putin wants to symbolically build on his country’s previous successes. Russia was the first country to put the first human into orbit, Yuri Gagarin, during the 1961 space race.

Space probe “Luna-25” fails

In the current race for the moon, the country does not want to fall behind other countries such as the US, China, India and Japan. That is why Russia sent the ‘Luna-25’ probe to Earth’s satellite as part of its moon program.

There she would explore the ground for a soft landing of Russian spacecraft: the country wants to have its own station on the moon by 2040. With the research, Russia also wanted to show that the country is capable of achieving top scientific performance, despite the war against Ukraine and despite the pressure of Western sanctions. But “Luna-25” crashed last August.

After the successful launch of the probe from the Vostochny cosmodrome in the Amur region, Russian politicians stressed that the country would not be defeated.

“Mistakes are mistakes”

There are several reasons why Putin wants to go into space with all his might: on the one hand, there are clear military goals that the Kremlin boss is pursuing. On the other hand, the former pioneer of space travel wants to show that he can return to his former glory.

During his visit to Korolev, the Kremlin chief made it clear that Putin will not be deterred by failures such as the failed landing of “Lunar 25”: “Mistakes are mistakes,” he said. But you can learn from setbacks.