Russia appoints new Roscosmos chief

Moscow: Russian President Vladimir Putin appointed Dmitry Bakanov as the new director general of Russia’s state space corporation Roscosmos, replacing Yury Borisov, the Kremlin announced Thursday on its official Telegram channel.

Before his appointment, the 39-year-old Bakanov served as deputy minister of transport, focusing on innovation, including unmanned transport systems, Xinhua news agency reported.

From 2011 to 2019, he led the Gonets satellite system company before moving to the Ministry of Transport. Borisov has headed Roscosmos since 2022, succeeding Dmitry Rogozin.

Before taking charge of the space agency, he served as deputy prime minister overseeing the technological and defence sectors and earlier held the position of deputy minister of defence.

During the 2.5 years of Borisov’s tenure, Roscosmos saw the failure of Luna 25, the first moon mission in modern Russian history in August 2023.

Russia last launched the moon mission Luna 24, in 1976 during the Soviet Union. Roscosmos “also faced corruption scandals, the loss of satellites and other spacecraft, as well as a lack of innovation” under Borisov, according to The Moscow Times, an independent newspaper based in Amsterdam.

But Russian officials termed Borisov’s departure as part of a “planned rotation.” “The corporation needs dynamic development, which is why these personnel changes are taking place,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, according to The Moscow Times.

Born in Leninsk (today the city of Baikonur) of the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic in 1985, Bakanov graduated from the St. Petersburg State University of Economics and Finance with a degree in economics in 2007.

Meanwhile, Bill Nelson NASA administrator also stepped down along with NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy on the day that Donald Trump began his second term as president.

Trump has appointed Janet Petro, who most recently served as director of the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida, as NASA’s interim chief. Although for an interim period, Petro is the first female to lead NASA. No female has ever led NASA since its inception in 1958.

“Janet Petro is NASA’s acting administrator. In this role, Petro is responsible for directing the agency, including budget and programmes, until a new administrator is confirmed by the US Senate,” said NASA in a statement.

Notably, Trump nominated entrepreneur and commercial astronaut Jared Isaacman for NASA administrator in December 2024.

-IANS