President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday that Russia's space industry needs drastic upgrades.

"It is necessary to deeply modernize the rocket and space industry, introduce modern models of production management, research and development," Putin said at a Russian Security Council meeting.

He deemed it necessary to learn to use the results of space activities in all spheres of life more effectively, especially in such fundamental industries as telecommunications, transport, medicine and utilities.

Leadership in space is important for solving problems of national development, ensuring national security and maintaining technological and economic competitiveness, Putin said.

He called for reorganization of the state space corporation Roscosmos, which, according to him, is responsible for a series of delays in the implementation of space projects and rising costs.

The president said Russia needs to improve the functioning of its satellite communications system, which in various cases operates worse than that of other countries.

Russia, which widely uses the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan for launching its spacecraft, must have independent access to space from the Russian territory, he said.

Therefore, Putin set the target to increase launches from the Vostochny spaceport in Russia's Far Eastern Amur Region, which is expected to reach full readiness to fire heavy carrier rockets in 2021.

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