Russian private rocket solutions

There is much talk these days about the potential benefits of commercializing space exploration and involving private companies in the Russian space industry. This viewpoint stems in no small measure from the lamentable fact that the sector has failed to secure any major long-term achievements in the past several decades. Society is baffled by the recent series of space failures, which is largely the result of the authorities’ narrow-mindedness, red tape, and the general unwillingness of statecontrolled enterprises to change their approaches.

Until recently, it was believed that private participation in the Russian space sector could not go anywhere beyond the manufacture of individual components. Then the Russian companies Dauria Aerospace and SPUTNIX, both founded several years ago, orbited their satellites in 2014 in Russian clustered and piggyback launches. These and other similar firms are interested in the development of an affordable launch vehicle.

Answering this demand, the Russian company Lin Industrial was founded last year to specialize in ultra- light space rockets. “During meetings with representatives of the Russian satellite specialists Dauria Aerospace and SPUTNIX, I was shown impressive statistics for the smallsatellite launch market; it suddenly dawned on me what to do, and soon thereafter we were launching our project,” says Lin Industrial founder and chief designer Alexander Ilyin.