(Reuters) – Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin on Tuesday appointed the former head of Russia’s space agency, Yuri Borisov, as special presidential representative for international space cooperation.
Borisov had headed Roscosmos since July 2022 in a tenure marked by the failure of a Russian moon mission and was relieved of his post earlier this month. No reason was given.
A presidential decree announced his appointment as Putin’s special representative. He replaced Sergei Krikalev, a highly decorated cosmonaut who took part in six missions.
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Russia has prided itself as a leading power in space since Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first man to go into space in 1961.
But under Borisov’s mandate, an uncrewed Luna-25 spacecraft crashed onto the surface of the moon as it attempted to land. It was Moscow’s first mission to the moon in 47 years.
As head of Roscosmos, Borisov had set ambitious plans for the coming years as Russia prepares to launch its own orbital space station – to replace the ageing International Space Station (ISS).
Borisov was replaced as head of Roscosmos by Deputy Transport Minister Dmitry Bakanov, who before joining the government had been in charge of a satellite company.
(Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Sandra Maler)
