Yaroslavl Radio Plant joined the RKS holding
The new production asset will allow the Russian Space Systems Holding to increase capacity to expand the range of space products. Yaroslavl Radio Plant has become an active participant in the Program of Strategic Transformations of Space Instrumentation Enterprises. The document assumes the expansion of the integrated structure of space instrument-making enterprises. The alliance will include 17 companies, research institutes, design bureaus and assembly plants. The acquisition of PJSC Yaroslavl Radio Plant is the first such transaction since the creation of the state corporation Roscosmos.
"Today, the Yaroslavl Radio Plant has significant competencies in the production of high–tech import-independent radio-electronic products, as well as professional means of communication, control and navigation," said Andrey Tyulin, General Director of the RCS.
In the strategy of the RKS holding, the Yaroslavl asset will become the base plant for space instrumentation. Integration will reduce the production cycle, in particular, of target and service unified onboard equipment, optimize business processes for the transfer of new design and technological solutions of developers from pilot production to serial production. In addition, it promises the further movement of the Russian rocket and space industry to full import independence in the production of space products and instrumentation. At the same time, as Roscosmos CEO Dmitry Rogozin said the other day, under the conditions of sanctions, the RCC is ready to support the national economy with competencies for non-space sectors, in particular for the aviation industry. "We are ready to launch the production of avionics for aviation on the basis of the Russian Space Systems Holding," Dmitry Rogozin said.
As planned, the radio plant will become the center of geographically distributed serial production of unified equipment, will participate in the development of unique equipment of small series. Access to design documentation through a virtual work environment significantly optimizes the costs of the enterprise, improves the quality of products. A closed production cycle will significantly reduce the time of product development in production.
All this fully corresponds to the development strategy of the RKS holding as a domestic import-independent company in the field of high technologies for space and non-space industries. And it provides for further expansion of the development of high-tech promising target and service onboard equipment for commercial space systems and global projects, including multi-satellite groupings.
The production site with the possibility of large-scale production of unified products within the holding will strengthen its position in the market of equipment for completing multi-satellite groupings of several hundred and thousands of spacecraft. They are planned to be created within the framework of state programs and with the involvement of private capital.
The Russian Space Systems Holding and the Yaroslavl Radio Plant will jointly produce on-board equipment for navigation satellites, communication satellites and remote sensing of the Earth (remote sensing). A workshop for assembling payload modules (MPN) has been launched at the radio plant.
In general, the RKS Holding and the Yaroslavl Radio Plant have been improving close production cooperation on the creation of space onboard equipment since 2018. In the changed geopolitical situation and, if necessary, countering sanctions, the radio plant is also expected to be loaded with orders for non-space industries, including the aviation industry, shipbuilding, fuel and energy complex, agriculture and other related markets.
The inclusion of the Yaroslavl Radio Plant among the production partners will allow transferring part of the technological processes from the Moscow site of the RCS to Yaroslavl. This will support the positive dynamics of the production and financial indicators of the Russian instrument-making holding. As the general director of the RCS Andrey Tyulin said, the holding refuses "a number of resource-intensive technological alterations, which are a priori very costly, therefore it is economically unprofitable and inexpedient to develop and maintain them at the Moscow site, and the Yaroslavl Radio Plant receives additional orders, in addition to the RCS, from other enterprises." As a result of the concentration of production, a synergistic effect is expected, which directly affects the competitiveness of products on the world market.
At the initial stage, the Yaroslavl Radio Plant is planned to be connected to the production of devices for GLONASS satellites, communication satellites, a number of payload modules for remote sensing satellites, as well as control and verification equipment.
In order to fulfill orders in a timely and high-quality manner, RKS formed a technology platform back in 2015, highlighting key functional and production competence centers in it. They are focused on developing new solutions. This circuit includes research and engineering divisions of six enterprises of the holding: JSC "Russian Space Systems", JSC "Research Institute of Precision Instruments", JSC "OKB of the Moscow Power Engineering Institute", JSC "NPO Orion", JSC "NPO Measuring Technology", JSC "Research Institute of Physical Measurements" and small innovative companies.
The formation of a new level of corporate governance of the Russian Space Systems Holding, taking into account the integration of the Yaroslavl Radio Plant PJSC, was the main topic of the March meeting of the Board of Directors, the main strategic management body for space instrumentation in Russia.
The General Director of RCS Andrey Tyulin and the general director of the Yaroslavl Radio Plant Vladimir Filimonov outlined the main vectors for the joint work of general designers and top management of the holding companies. They discussed, in particular, the creation of general-holding systems for strategic planning and development, design and serial production of on-board and ground equipment, and the creation of a unified digital infrastructure.
"It is necessary to revise and unify the competence matrix of the holding's divisions as soon as possible, taking into account the capabilities of the Yaroslavl Radio Plant, which will become the main serial site of the RKS Holding for the production of a wide range of space products. Today we are designing the future of instrument engineering," Andrey Tyulin outlined the strategy.
The primary production task is the transition from the manufacture of separate on-board equipment to the serial production of full-fledged space systems and turnkey complexes. The role of corporate personnel policy is emphasized – in order to strengthen and mobilize human resources, it is planned to pay special attention to youth and social programs, attracting highly qualified specialists.
Nikolay Poroskov
Nikolay Nikolaevich Poroskov is a military journalist.