Rogozin decided not to send expeditions to the Moon and Mars

Dmitry Rogozin. Photo: Gennady Gulyaev / Kommersant

Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, who oversees the military-industrial complex and space, expressed doubts about the need for Russia to fly to the Moon and Mars. “We are told by some experts, including those from Roscosmos - they flew to the moon, let's master it. I used to like this idea myself. But now we must calculate how much it will cost money. What real goals we have on the moon, what minerals are there, we must assume that we have a little money now and we are in a hostile environment, ”stated Rogozin on the air of the Vesti-24 channel.

He also outlined the attitude to the plans for the development of Mars. “I say again: let's count. Here NASA is interested in Mars. Although I doubt it - well, they will fly there, prove that their astronauts can land on Mars. So what's next? And what specific tasks we will be able to solve on Mars are to be expected, ”the vice-premier concluded.

In April 2014, Rogozin called Rossiyskaya Gazeta three strategic tasks that Russia faces in the space sphere: “expanding our presence in low near-earth orbits and moving from their development to use; exploration followed by colonization of the moon and near-moon space; preparation and the beginning of the exploration of Mars and other objects of the Solar system ". There were words that our country "is doomed to become a great cosmic power." Then in June, during a round table discussion held within the framework of the exhibition “The First Russian-Chinese EXPO”, he announced Russia's readiness to cooperate with China in the exploration of Mars and the Moon. And I already wrote that at the beginning of December a rather large-scale project on the colonization of the Moon was sent to the government of the Russian Federation for approval. Unfortunately, it seems that in light of recent economic events, expansion into space seems to be postponed indefinitely.