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Russia Launches Military Satellite; Official Briefs Putin on Space Issues
By Associated Press
posted: 01:00 pm ET
26 February 2002
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MOSCOW (AP) -- Russia's defense minister briefed President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday about his trip to the Russian Space Forces' northern launch pad and discussed the need to replenish Russia's aging satellite fleet. Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov, who has made upgrading the military's space program a top priority, met with Putin in the Kremlin a day after traveling to the Plesetsk Cosmodrome to watch the launch of Russia's first military satellite this year. The Kosmos 2387 blasted into orbit late Monday. Ivanov said last week that Russia's military satellites were key to the nation's defense, adding that without them the Russian army is ''blind and deaf.'' Alexei Gromov, Putin's spokesman, told the Interfax news agency that Putin and Ivanov also discussed the current state and future of Russia's space forces, as well as the current situation in Russia's cash-strapped and demoralized armed forces. No further details were available. Meanwhile, Valery Lyndin, spokesman for Mission Control outside Moscow, said that this week's launch of the Progress cargo vehicle to the International Space Station had been delayed for financial reasons. He said funding was not received in time to go ahead with Thursday's scheduled liftoff from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The space ferry was due to bring several tons of equipment, water and food to the space station. In the past, Russian budget problems have caused delays for the 16-nation space station. The service module, which houses the crew, was held up for two years before being put into orbit in July 2000 due to Russian cash-flow problems. Lyndin said the cargo vehicle would probably be launched sometime in the second half of March. NASA officials said the current Expedition Four crew have all the supplies they need at the outpost now.
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