SpaceX breaks Russian dominance in space

The new SpaceX capsule, which was established from Florida, U.S.A., landed at the International Space Station (ISS) without difficulty Sunday.

This is the first such mission since 2011, when Americans stopped flying to the ISS.

Astronauts in the ISS for nine years have been set up by Russian cosmodrome in Baiconur after training in Russia.

Russian space agency Roskosmos “welcomed” the establishment of the SpaceX ship and its executive director for direct flights, Sergei Crixus, said that “the success of this mission will give us new opportunities”.

“Trempolin functions,” the founder of SpaceX joked Elon Musk at a news conference today, in a wise remark to Roscosmo's director.

Dmitry Rogozin said in 2014, at a time when Moscow was threatening to interrupt co-operation with Washington on the space program, that NASA could send its astronauts to the ISS in a “trampoline”.

Musk's remarks sparked Russian social networks on which many messages were posted that users mocked Rogoz.

Otherwise, Roscosmos charged NASA about $80 million every flight to the ISS, which brought them considerable financial benefits.

“If SpaceX transports American astronauts in the future, the annual “waste could exceed $200m, a large sum for Roscosmos and its budget of about two billion”, said Andrei Yoni, an expert at the Ciolkovsky Space Academy in Moscow.

In addition, SpaceX flights can boost “surveillance” of Russia's space sector, which is in the much worse “than leaders accept, Yoni added.

Although Moscow started most of the ships in orbit ten years ago, this is no longer the case today, as there are Chinese missiles and SpaceX.

While we were losing the launch market, Roscosmos said everything was fine, because we're the only ones sending people to the station. Now they've lost that argument,” stressed Jon.

The Russian space sector continues to suffer from corruption, as evidenced by scandals related to the construction of a new Vostochny cosm in the Far East of Russia.

Besides, due to lack of money and real political will, there is no innovation. Russia's programme aims to perfect the Soviet <x1-technology”, recalls Andrei Yoni.

The development of private companies such as SpaceX, which plans to invade Mars, warns a technological step that will be difficult to come by.

To keep Russia in the race, Yon proposes that the strategy be determined by an independent body in which the main factors of the Russian space sector will be.

US President Donald Trump has rebuilt the National Space Council to set those political goals. We need the same thing,” said Yon.

Observers, however, note Russian President Vladimir Putin's lack of will, which is clearly focused on the development of the military force, especially high-tech hypersonic missiles.