Russia will tailor space ambitions to limited means

Significance

This clears the way for SpaceX and Soyuz craft to carry each other's passengers to the International Space Station (ISS). The loss of Russia's monopoly on such flights is emblematic of broader troubles. Moscow's space programme is being left behind as US companies forge ahead and China competes as a world-class rival.

Impacts

• The space programme's Soviet-era symbolic importance will be more difficult to uphold without new achievements.
• Roskosmos will be unable to recapture former market share and may be reduced to satellite launches for states unable to use US services.
• The Arktika-M satellite is the first of two planned to monitor climate and environmental changes in the Arctic.