Russia’s space industry is in a prolonged crisis. The condition of the main enterprise of Roscosmos, the Rocket and Space Corporation Energia, is approaching critical. The company posted a net loss of 458.083 million rubles for the first half of 2025. The Kremlin is attempting to revive Energia, but a complex tangle of problems—corruption, funding for the war against Ukraine, sanctions, a shortage of qualified personnel, slowing development, and degradation of production capacities—continues to undermine these efforts.
The Russians have already postponed missions to the Moon and Venus. After the failed Luna-25 attempt in August 2023, the Luna-26 mission is now planned for 2028, while the Venera-D mission has been pushed back to 2036 (originally planned for 2029).
At the same time, NASA Administrator Sean Duffy announced that the U.S. plans to deploy a working nuclear power plant on the Moon in the first quarter of 2030. Proposals are already being solicited from businesses for the construction of a reactor capable of producing up to 100 kilowatts of electricity. Even before the crisis, Russia had planned a similar project jointly with China for 2033–2035.
Additionally, Russia’s space industry is unable to provide the state with quality satellite imagery. The 2026 budget allocates five billion rubles for this purpose, although Roscosmos itself has estimated annual needs at nine trillion rubles, which exceeds one-fifth of the federal budget.
