Russia has given its space chief a series of huge raises

Enlarge / Roscosmos Head Dmitry Rogozin is seen before Russia-China talks at the Moscow Kremlin. (credit: Mikhail Metzel/TASS via Getty Images)

Nearly four years have passed since Dmitry Rogozin became director general of Roscosmos, the state-run corporation that manages the country's human and civil spaceflight programs, rocket production, and space technology development.

Roscosmos is a sprawling entity, with about 170,000 employees at its various companies, and it is effectively charged with carrying on the legacy of the once-dominant Soviet space program that launched the world's first satellite, first astronaut, and more than half a dozen space stations.

However, under Rogozin's tenure, Roscosmos has seen its fortunes diminish. There have been public embarrassments aplenty. For example, after he previously mocked NASA for not having its own means of transporting its astronauts into space, Rogozin was forced to eat his words following SpaceX's Crew Dragon flight in 2020.

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