OREANDA-NEWS. April 12, 2009. In his message of congratulations, Mr Medvedev said, in particular:

“The conquest of space is one of the most impressive and memorable pages in the history of the twentieth century. On April 12, 1961, Yury Gagarin’s spaceflight opened a new era in the development of civilisation. Our brilliant designers with their talent and our cosmonauts with their courage made this first step in space possible, and we feel justified pride in knowing that it was our country that made this great scientific and technological advance. 

Developing the rocket and space sector remains a state policy priority today. Our country’s economic success, scientific development and security depend directly on its effective work. Today, we need to concentrate serious efforts on modernising the sector, renewing its scientific and technical potential, and developing fundamental and applied research.  

I am certain that unique knowledge and experience of our specialists and the implementation of national and international programmes will bolster Russia’s position as one of the leaders in space research and manned spaceflight, and will multiply our successful results on the international market for space services.”