Historically, Russia's space house has been uncompromisingly related to the military, and Popovkin's release surveillance his stretch at Baikonur reflects that connection. In 1986 he fixed the Answer Zoom Armed forces and began a meteoric release along the Endorse Ministry's space command. Since Person in charge Putin formed the Russian Stop Armed forces, a new post of the military, in 2001, he tapped Popovkin as its best quality of workforce, and in 2004 he became its leader.
In 2008, Popovkin served as head of procurement for the Endorse Ministry, and by 2010 was the Ruler Back Cleric of Endorse until his go to as head of Roscosmos in 2011.
As head of Roscosmos, Popovkin had to place for the defeat of the 2011 Fobos-Grunt robotic assignment to one of the Martian moons - the give somebody the third degree malfunctioned before it may possibly at a standstill set low Country fly around, and burned up cozily in the Earth's air a few weeks taking into account.
Undeterred, Popovkin motivated to movement Russia's space science clearing a means of frugal face, and under arrest the possibility to involve yourself in in the European Stop Agency's, or ESA's, own unmanned Mars assignment - ExoMars. Primarily an ESA-NASA project, Washington pulled out of the program amid reduction cuts in 2012, leave-taking Europe in a serious minced until Roscosmos swooped in and packed the gap - frugal the strict ambitions of every ESA and Roscosmos.
The head of the space studies orderliness at the Russian Academy of Sciences, Lev Zeleny, on Wednesday praised Popovkin for frugal the project.