Senior Russian Space Official To Be Replaced

SPACEMART

Documents concerning Kiselyev's dismissal and the appointment of a new general director for the space center have already reached President Vladimir Putin (above) for signing and, may, already have been signed.

Moscow (Interfax) Jan. 10, 2001
The replacement of the general director of Russia's Khrunichev State Space Science and Production Center, Anatoly Kiselyev, seems inevitable, a source from the aerospace industry told Interfax.

Documents concerning Kiselyev's dismissal and the appointment of a new general director for the space center have already reached President Vladimir Putin for signing and, may, already have been signed.

Presidential aide, Yevgeny Shaposhnikov, told Interfax that such documents were indeed with the president, but could not say whether they had been signed. A decision on replacing the general director at the Khrunichev center is imminent, Shaposhnikov said.

The Khrunichev State Space Science and Production Center was formed in 1993 as the result of a merger between two leading rocket technology and production companies, the Salyut construction bureau and the Khrunichev engineering plant, intiated by Kiselyev, whof from 1975 headed the Khrunichev plant.

Kiselyov told Interfax that he himself tended his resignation to the presidential administration a couple of months ago. He put his decision down to the state of his health.

Kiselyov was born in 1938. He directly participated in the development and creation of the Proton rocket, all generations of the permanent orbital stations and some generations of intercontinental ballistic missiles.

Possible contenders for his post, according to different sources, include both representatives from the space center and some that are not directly linked to it. In particular, the post may go to Alexei Ogarev, who was born in 1957, and was general director of Rosvooruzhenie until the beginning of November 2000.

Kiselyov described the economic condition of the Khrunichev Space Center as "normal." With its Proton rocket launcher, the center was the first Russian space company to enter the international space services market. A record 14 launches were with Proton rockets in 2000.

The Khrunichev center also used its financial reserves to launch the new Proton-M rocket, the Briz-M upper stage, the Rokot launch vehicle and is working to create a series of environmentally friendly Angara launch vehicles.

SPACEMART

Khrunichev Wants To Expand Into Global Space Markets

Moscow - Nov. 24, 2000
The Russian state-run Khrunichev space center intends to expand its share of the world's space services market, in particular by launching heavy satellites with Proton rockets, the center's director general Anatoly Kiselyov told Interfax on Thursday.