S8 Ep416: Guest: Bob Zimmerman. Zimmerman analyzes the failing Roscosmos, describing Russia's declining space program and its inability to compete with American and Chinese advancements.
The John Batchelor Show
John Batchelor
4.5 • 2.8K Ratings
🗓️ 4 February 2026
⏱️ 4 minutes
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| 0:00.0 | I'm John Batchler. It is Bob Zimmerman's Behind the Black. |
| 0:20.0 | And your donations and subscriptions |
| 0:22.9 | most welcome because the big space companies of the 20th century are troubled, and the commercial |
| 0:30.9 | companies are eager to please. We begin with a big space company, a big space enterprise that is in terminal failure. |
| 0:42.3 | Ross Cosmos. |
| 0:43.3 | What's happened, Bob? |
| 0:44.7 | Well, if you remember in the last man launch from their launch pattern by Canoa, |
| 0:49.6 | the Soyuz capsule, |
| 0:51.8 | when after it took off, the launch was successful, |
| 0:54.0 | it after it took off, the launch was successful. |
| 1:02.7 | It after it took off a movable platform they used for preparing the rocket fell into the launch trench below. |
| 1:05.8 | It was not properly attached, and it fell down. |
| 1:10.2 | And this is the only launch pad they've got to launch progress and Soyuz capsules to ISS. So basically, |
| 1:11.9 | Russia has no way to launch manned missions right now. And so they was saying they were hoping |
| 1:17.0 | they would get this thing fixed by March next month. While a Russian official last week |
| 1:23.6 | basically gave indications that it's likely not to get ready by March. |
| 1:30.9 | They're having weather problems it's cold and by Kanoa right now, and that's still causing |
| 1:34.9 | delay. |
| 1:35.5 | And they're having trouble getting some of the parts they need for rebuilding this thing. |
| 1:39.6 | Russia doesn't have the ability to build a lot of this stuff anymore. |
| 1:42.9 | And so we're sitting here and it's not going to get ready. One of the things they've also done is they're going to scapegoat |
| 1:48.2 | the workers who handle the launch pad. After it happened, there was enough news press in Russia |
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