Russia is 6-7 years ahead of its competitors in development of unique nuclear power energy technologies for space, Russian President Vladimir Putin said during a meeting on development of the space industry.
"We have made a significant progress in development of unique space nuclear energy technologies. According to specialists, Russia is 6-7 years ahead of all its competitors, of the entire world," Putin said.
The president noted that this is a good achievement and it must be used by supporting breakthrough scientific research in cosmonautics and by accelerating the practical implementation of promising technological solutions.
"We will discuss the specific steps in this regard today, as well," he said.
According to the president, it is necessary to reinforce the ground infrastructure, in order to develop the orbital space industry and increase the number of launches.