PRESIDENT DMITRY Medvedev has rejected claims that Russia’s space programme is in terminal decline, amid celebrations to mark 50 years since Yuri Gagarin became the first man in space.
Mr Medvedev talked to astronauts aboard the International Space Station and hosted a Kremlin ceremony to commemorate Gagarin’s triumphant 108-minute flight on Vostok 1, which confirmed the Soviet Union’s lead over the United States in the fiercely fought space race.
“Fifty years ago, Yuri Gagarin opened a new era in human history,” Mr Medvedev told a Kremlin audience that included Gagarin’s widow, Valentina; his daughters Elena and Galina; Alexei Leonov, the first man to walk in space; and the first woman in space, Valentina Tereshkova.
“At the time, this was the greatest triumph of our country. And this is still felt today by a huge number of people here and around the world,” Mr Medvedev added.
“Today we have no doubt that without space we have no future. And even if our ideas have become more pragmatic, we did not change ideology.
“It is no accident the space industry is one of the priorities for the development of our country.”
Former members of Moscow’s space programme have criticised Russia’s current efforts in the lead-up to the anniversary, with complaints about under-investment in expertise and technology and fears that the next generation of US spacecraft will leave Russia far behind.
“There’s nothing new to be proud of in the last 20 years,” said Svetlana Savitskaya, a former cosmonaut who is now an opposition politician.
“If we don’t catch up on what we have missed in the last 20 years . . . we will be left with nothing.”
In a link-up with the space station from mission control in Korolev, a town named after the brilliant rocket designer who sent Gagarin into space, Sergei Korolev, Mr Medvedev said Russia had not given up on the cosmos.
“We were the first in space, we obtained a lot of success and we do not want to lose our advances,” the Kremlin leader told the crew.
“Humanity will continue to invest in space. I want to say, in the name of Russia, that we will of course do this as space is a priority for us.”
The 1961 flight made Gagarin a national hero and international celebrity. He was killed in a fighter jet crash in 1968.
