| Posted: April 7, 2008 |
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Nanotechnology to boost Russian space industry
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(Nanowerk News) The Russian Federal Space Agency is teaming up with state tech giant Rosnanotekh to promoting nanotechnology in the country’s key industries. With a budget of $US 5 billion, Rosnanotekh is poised to inject life-saving funds into Russia's long-neglected science departments.
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Head of Rosnanotech, Leonid Melamed, said the first project was to promote Russia’s space industry.
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“The current task is to create competitive advantages for Russia`s space agency using nanotechnology. This will help our space industry not only to maintain its current market position but also to enter other international markets,” Melamed said.
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Under the agreement there will be a special department within the corporation working on aerospace projects.
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Nanotechnology involves the use of tiny structures to create devices such as solar-heating panels and computer chips. In Russia, scientists have made breakthroughs in the fields of metals, medicine and molecular chemistry. However, business has been slow to take up their ideas.
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The reason for the delays is that profits from investing in this kind of projects take time to materialise.
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Insurance analyst Evgeny Shago says: “that’s why many private investors do not want to invest into such long-term and risky projects. Currently, only government is ready to invest capital,”
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Russia also has an eye on China and India, which are making major inroads into nanotechnology.
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The creation of state corporations in key sectors has been central to industrial policy under Putin’s administration. So far, Russia has set up six state-run firms in four years.
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