posted 05-15-2014 02:09 PM               

Roscosmos will launch a long-overdue modernization effort in the Soviet-era industrial base responsible for producing the rockets and technology that have enabled Russia to enjoy its preeminence in space exploration.

This modernization effort will extend to the renovations to the old cosmodromes at Plesetsk — located in Arkhangelsk — and Baikonur — located in northern Kazakhstan.

Russia currently leases the Baikonur Cosmodrome from the Kazakh government for $115 million annually.

Russia is also busy constructing a brand new launch facility in the Far East — the Vostochny Cosmodrome.

Vostochny will be the home of Russia's newest rocket, Angara — a critical project for Russia, as it will be the first new launch vehicle to be deployed since the fall of the Soviet Union.

The government has ordered Roscosmos to expand the existing constellation of orbiting satellites to 78 by 2015, and 113 by 2020, "in order to meet the needs of the state," the plan said. The military, for example, does not have the elaborate network of communications and reconnaissance satellites it once commanded during the Cold War, as these assets were not replaced when they reached the ends of their operational lifetimes during the 1990s.