Yevpatoria-based deep space comm station will help solve matters concerning the control of manned spaceships--Roscosmos

MOSCOW, April 23 (Itar-Tass) - Oleg Ostapenko, Director of Roscosmos (Russia's Federal Space Agency), hopes that the Yevpatoria-based unique deep space communications station will be restored and "will make it possible to tackle the matters of control of spacecraft in deep space flights, automatic stations, and manned spaceships". This is what Roscosmos chief told the newpaper Vedomosti in an interview published on Wednesday. "Yevpatoria has available a deep space communications station with a large radiotelescope. Several antennas of such a class were built in Soviet times. We hope to restore that entire system," Ostapenko said. He pointed out that earlier Russia and Ukraine had engaged in upgrading the antenna, "and it was planned to use it in the Fobos-Grunt (Phobos-Soil) programme. And we know its condition". New multi-frequency receivers were devised under the Radioastron project for the antenna. However, work to modernize it has not been completed up to now. Ostapenko said Russia carries on cooperation with Ukraine in the space research sphere. "Not a single contract has been dissolved on the Russian side and we fulfil our obligations," he stated. In the process, on the part of Ukraine,"there are certain problems with the delivery of equipment which it is due to supply under the existing contracts". Ostapenko said Roscosmos hopes that all obligations will be fulfilled by the Ukrainian side. Speaking on the theme of the threat of sanctions on the part of the USA, Ostapenko stated, "We in Roscosmos have not got any official notifications about a curtailment of cooperation. We continue to maintain working contacts with NASA and other space agencies." "Recently I held talks with the NASA administrator and with European colleagues. We hope that the situation that has taken shape will have no cardinal effect on those joint programs which we implement. Although, of course, these projects are under a perceived political pressing. The space research sector has been always seeking to maintain a political neutrality," the Roscosmos chief said. Ostapenko pointed out that the International Space Station (ISS) is one of present-day priority projects in the field of space research. The ISS "is in an absolutely satisfactory technical condition and there are no grounds to speak of some technical threats to it." "American colleagues already suggest discussing the question of extending the ISS operation until 2024. We are analysing to which extent that will be pertinent, considering our deep space exploration program, on which we are working now," Ostapenko said. Learn more on itar-tass.com