The President’s message reads, in particular:
“Developing the rocket and space industry has always been one of the state’s important policy priorities. We are justifiably proud that it was our country that opened the road taking humankind to the stars and that has written many splendid chapters in the chronicles of space exploration. Thanks to the hard work and creative efforts of our scientists, designers and specialists – people endlessly devoted to their work – Russia’s space industry has firmly established itself as a world leader and its achievements have found wide application in a great range of economic sectors from navigation and surveying to ecology, the energy sectors, information and telecommunications, transport and forestry.
It is heartening to see that the people working in the industry today show such respect for the fine traditions of their predecessors and continue to make an important contribution to exploring outer space, strengthening our defence and industrial potential and carrying out major international projects”.