Roscosmos to cut salaries of top managers by 30% - source

MOSCOW. March 3 (Interfax) - The Russian space corporation Roscosmos has moved to slash top managers' salaries by 30% amid sanctions, a source in the rocket and space industry told Interfax.

"Against the background of sanctions, there will be a 30% pay cut for top managers," the source said.

This is a decision of Roscosmos chief Dmitry Rogozin, whose salary will also be cut by 30%.

Earlier on February 24, the United States and the European Union announced sanctions against the Russian space industry. Rogozin replied by saying Soyuz rocket launches from Kourou in French Guiana will be discontinued and the Russian specialists withdrawn from there.

The European Space Agency (ESA) has said that it has fully complied with the anti-Russian sanctions. "We are fully implementing the sanctions imposed on Russia by our Member States," the agency said in a statement. Due to the sanctions and the general context of the current situation, the launch of the Russian-European mission ExoMars is "unlikely" in 2022, ESA said.

Rogozin revealed earlier on February 26 that Germany had notified Russia of the intention to switch off its telescope on board the Russian-German space astrophysical observatory Spektr-RG.

On March 2, Rogozin said that Roscosmos has serious questions for OneWeb concerning talks with a U.S.-based contractor of the Pentagon.

According to Rogozin, the Russian space corporation may cancel the launch of OneWeb satellites from Baikonur in Kazakhstan on March 5 if there are no guarantees that the system will not be used for military purposes and if the British Government does not withdraw its stake from OneWeb.

The possible cancellation of the launch of OneWeb satellites will not cause significant economic damage to Roscosmos, the state corporation said on Wednesday. "The refusal to carry out the launch will not cause significant economic damage to the operations of Roscosmos and its subsidiaries. The customer has paid for the construction of launch vehicles and upper stages virtually in full," it said.

"The satellites located at Baikonur Cosmodrome will stay there until the situation is resolved," Roscosmos said in a report.

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