Russian space leader issues decree against trash, “sloppy” work attitudes

Enlarge / Roscosmos Head Dmitry Rogozin gives a press briefing after the failure of the MS-11 mission. (credit: Alexei FilippovTASS via Getty Images)

Dmitry Rogozin is not having the best year. Earlier, he was essentially demoted from his position as deputy prime minister over defense and space to a position managing Roscosmos, the Russian space corporation. And since then he has had to grapple with a number of embarrassing spaceflight problems, including an errant drill hole in a Soyuz spacecraft and an emergency landing of another one after a rocket exploded mid-flight.

But Rogozin is nothing if not a fighter, and he now appears to be taking steps to address the deteriorating situation at Roscosmos—and the Russian aerospace companies that build rockets and spacecraft for the country.

The Kommersant newspaper obtained a copy of a directive that Rogozin has issued to the leaders of companies and facilities that serve Roscosmos. The purpose of the letter, the newspaper reports, is to help the companies root out "poor manufacturing culture and negligent attitudes of staff toward their work." (This article was translated for Ars by Robinson Mitchell, a former US Air Force Airborne Cryptologic Language Analyst.)