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Russia in Space
Russia In Space is a unique attempt to visualize space exploration's future through the eyes of Russian space engineers and to describe that nation's plans in space. Based on actual documents, rather than on guesswork, it is the first comprehensive illustrated book dedicated to the Russian vision for the future of manned spaceflight from the dawn of manned spaceflight until today. Lavishly illustrated with images of unparalleled artistic quality and technical accuracy, Russia In Space: - puts the development of the Russian manned spacecraft into political and historical context; - uniquely describes the future of space exploration through the eyes of Russian space engineers and planners; - introduces hitherto unrevealed systems developed for the Russian space program; - describes past events and future plans in the historical context of the fall and rise of the Russian space program.
- GenresScience
316 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2013
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December 14, 2025
Published in 2013 through Apogee Press in Canada, Russia in Space details the spacefaring plans of the former Soviet Union from the early 20th century to the beginning of its breakup in 1989. Russian journalist Anatoly Zak scoured available sources, from engineering drawings to popular press articles to interviews, to piece together a compendium of information. Reading somewhat in the vein of an encyclopedia, the book makes up for the scarcity of contemporarily documented history owing to the self-imposed secrecy of the Russian federation by dependence of material only made available after the fact. Zak occasionally points out this failure of openness and points to politics, economics, and foreign competition as its sources. Thus, the book does suffer some incongruity which may or may not have been alleviated by a chronological ordering of subjects. It could also use an appendix with a map of the various industrial bases referred to without locational context. In our age when we can look these items up quickly with handheld devices, these critiques aren't as relevant as they would have been in 2013.
The sheer number of space programs Russian engineers designed boggles the mind. Zak relays the promised technology with illustrations, photos, and hardware specifications. His writing style is generous, expansive, and frequently uses irony to describe the build-up and discarding of various ideas to meet space goals. Coordination and the impetus of competition with Europe and the United States primarily, and in this century China, India, and Japan, pushed Russian industry (organized around design bureaus which specialized in certain mission requirements, such as spaceplanes, unmanned robotic spacecraft, and life support) to periodically reorganize missions based on objectives that changed with new national leadership. Disagreements within the Russian technical community are laced throughout, sometimes including the disparaging, sarcastic comments directed at each other.
Reading this, the hopeful may find disappointment that strategies rarely survived the time it took to build the infrastructure. Examples include boosters optimized for small and large payloads, which either never got off the ground or flew once, like the Buran shuttle. Opportunity lost, as well as the finances sunk into developing plans, resulted in wasted years and Russia still depending on Soyuz and Progress capsules for manned and cargo missions, respectively, to low-earth orbit, and not beyond. It may also come as a surprise to some U.S. and European readers to know that, despite its size, Russia has few appropriate launch sites. After the Soviet breakup, Russia leased the Baikonur space launch complex from the former Kazakhstan state and had practically no access to the former Ukrainian state’s Zenit rocket. In response to EU sanctions against Russia’s ongoing war with Ukraine, leaders canceled the use of the Kourou spaceport in French Guiana where the European Space Agency (ESA) launches its Ariane family of rockets and where the James Webb Space Telescope rode to space atop an Ariane 5. With all of these impositions, it was clear that Russia needed its own launch complex, Vostochny, built in the far eastern part of the country with operations beginning in 2016. Notably, the Vostochny cosmodrome lacks rocket building infrastructure. Boosters must be delivered by rail, which limits the size of components.
The best of the book, in this reviewer's opinion, are the strategies Russia had for achieving manned Martian and both manned and robotic lunar bases. It can be argued that Russia has more experience with life-support technologies, nuclear propulsion and power generation than its rivals. These key technologies are essential for outposts. The only parts of these plans that made the jump from the drawing board were Earth-based simulators, which is still an achievement for long-duration studies of such disciplines as food production, ergonomics, and human psychology. Clearly, Russian science and engineering students have a rich capability from which to draw if ever the political will and subsequent funding prevails. Like the United States, Russia has the ingenuity and scientific drive to explore space. Unfortunately, both have been hindered by military necessity for secrecy. The 'new' space age of private commercial enterprise is expected to dramatically impact the way countries access and use space. Perhaps obsolete Russian plans, if not hardware in warehouses, may be revived.
I want to thank Anatoly Zak for professional integrity and perhaps risking the ire of the current Russian regime for publishing viewpoints and data that would otherwise be kept under lock and key. Zak continues to provide updates on his web site, RussianSpaceWeb.com, with access to deeper information by subscription.
The sheer number of space programs Russian engineers designed boggles the mind. Zak relays the promised technology with illustrations, photos, and hardware specifications. His writing style is generous, expansive, and frequently uses irony to describe the build-up and discarding of various ideas to meet space goals. Coordination and the impetus of competition with Europe and the United States primarily, and in this century China, India, and Japan, pushed Russian industry (organized around design bureaus which specialized in certain mission requirements, such as spaceplanes, unmanned robotic spacecraft, and life support) to periodically reorganize missions based on objectives that changed with new national leadership. Disagreements within the Russian technical community are laced throughout, sometimes including the disparaging, sarcastic comments directed at each other.
Reading this, the hopeful may find disappointment that strategies rarely survived the time it took to build the infrastructure. Examples include boosters optimized for small and large payloads, which either never got off the ground or flew once, like the Buran shuttle. Opportunity lost, as well as the finances sunk into developing plans, resulted in wasted years and Russia still depending on Soyuz and Progress capsules for manned and cargo missions, respectively, to low-earth orbit, and not beyond. It may also come as a surprise to some U.S. and European readers to know that, despite its size, Russia has few appropriate launch sites. After the Soviet breakup, Russia leased the Baikonur space launch complex from the former Kazakhstan state and had practically no access to the former Ukrainian state’s Zenit rocket. In response to EU sanctions against Russia’s ongoing war with Ukraine, leaders canceled the use of the Kourou spaceport in French Guiana where the European Space Agency (ESA) launches its Ariane family of rockets and where the James Webb Space Telescope rode to space atop an Ariane 5. With all of these impositions, it was clear that Russia needed its own launch complex, Vostochny, built in the far eastern part of the country with operations beginning in 2016. Notably, the Vostochny cosmodrome lacks rocket building infrastructure. Boosters must be delivered by rail, which limits the size of components.
The best of the book, in this reviewer's opinion, are the strategies Russia had for achieving manned Martian and both manned and robotic lunar bases. It can be argued that Russia has more experience with life-support technologies, nuclear propulsion and power generation than its rivals. These key technologies are essential for outposts. The only parts of these plans that made the jump from the drawing board were Earth-based simulators, which is still an achievement for long-duration studies of such disciplines as food production, ergonomics, and human psychology. Clearly, Russian science and engineering students have a rich capability from which to draw if ever the political will and subsequent funding prevails. Like the United States, Russia has the ingenuity and scientific drive to explore space. Unfortunately, both have been hindered by military necessity for secrecy. The 'new' space age of private commercial enterprise is expected to dramatically impact the way countries access and use space. Perhaps obsolete Russian plans, if not hardware in warehouses, may be revived.
I want to thank Anatoly Zak for professional integrity and perhaps risking the ire of the current Russian regime for publishing viewpoints and data that would otherwise be kept under lock and key. Zak continues to provide updates on his web site, RussianSpaceWeb.com, with access to deeper information by subscription.
Displaying 1 of 1 review