Big_Gazza Sat May 22, 2021 5:20 pm
Daniel_Admassu wrote:Good to know that there still is a program for Venus. But all these timetables make me cringe my teeth. 2023 for the completion of a feasibility study of something conceived a while back? There are times I agree with Vann7. Roscosmos is seriously underfunded.
With Venera-D no longer a joint US/Russia mission, Roskosmos will be forced to go it alone and will be denied Western components. Import substitution and domestic replacments for unobtainable equipment will add time and cost, and Roskosmos must develop a plan for the necessary R&D and manufacturing startups.
Why do you think there have been so much delay in the past to Russian space science projects? Its not that Russians are incompetent or have no money (though I would certainly agree that the feds have been stingy when comes to funding). Supply chain issues are IMHO the dominant factor. Soviet-era solutions are unavailable after the collapse of the old supply chains (and are essentialy obsolete in any case) and imported solutions represent unacceptable vulnerability that ruthless bastards in the US & EU have leveraged against numerous times to sabotage Russian science missions.
Russia is a nation that faces an ongoing multi-pronged attack by foreign nations that seek to roll-back her attempts at asserting her independence and soveignty. Russia has many vital things that require funding, and to be frank, space science comes pretty low on the list. Russian space budget needs to go to practical infrastructural developement that gives real world capabilities - launchers, cosmodromes, new generation manned vehicles, ISS replacement station, nuclear propulsion. The available space science budget comprises the Spektr-series observatories and the Luna explorers, as well as co-operative misisons like Exo-Mars. Venera-D is a worthy addition, but its clear the gov won't sacrifice other ventures to fast-track a 21st century repeat of Soviet-era achievements.