Article Posted on : - Feb 01, 2011

Russian Soyuz spacecraft.

MOSCOW (BNS): Russia is planning to increase the number of space launches by more than 50% in 2011, Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) head Anatoly Perminov said at a meeting on Monday.

Russia made 31 launches of various booster rockets last year (one of them failed), which made up 41 percent of the launches in the world.

"This is quite an achievement to win in tough competition in the world today, accounting for 41 percent of the launches," Anatoly Perminov, was quoted as saying in a news report by the Roscosmos.

Russia plans to make 48 space launches in 2011, Perminov added.

Russia made 18 launches under the state programmes in 2010, including nine launches in the framework of the International Space Station (ISS) program (four manned and five cargo launches), which, Perminov said, "was enough for effective functioning of the station."