Putin OKs plan to turn Russian spacecraft into flying billboards
These are tough times for Russia's civilian space program. In the last few years, Russia has cut back on the number of Soyuz crew missions it is sending to the International Space Station, and a replacement for the nearly 60-year-old Soyuz spacecraft remains elusive.
While the United States and China are launching more space missions than ever before, Russia's once-dominant launch cadence is on a downhill slide.
Russia's access to global markets dried up after Russian President Vladimir Putin launched the country's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The fallout from the invasion killed several key space partnerships between Russia and Europe. Russia's capacity to do new things in space seems to be focused on military programs like anti-satellite weapons.