Russia needs a leaner space industry, and that means significant job cuts, Vladimir Popovkin, head of Russia’s Space Agency Roscosmos, said on Thursday.

“Unless we act now – we will cease to be competitive,” he warned.

Speaking about the need for reform, Popovkin noted that “reorganizing Roscosmos into a holding company will ensure maximum staffing” across the sector.

“If today over 250 (thousand) people are employed, then we calculate that the maximum should be 150-170” he said during a lecture for science and technology students.

In recent years Russia’s space program has suffered a series of failures, from lost satellites and abortive launches to Phobos-Grunt’s failure to leave low earth orbit.

© RIA Novosti.

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