The Russian space sector is under the tight control of the state with the Russian Space Agency, Roscosmos being the main actor to fulfill this task. It supervises almost all operations, including purchases, production, international cooperation and technological exploitation. Therefore, it is often difficult for foreign SMEs to establish contacts to local partners in this sector. During this official mission headed by the Ambassador Rossier, and co-organized with Roscosmos, Swiss participants met relevant players from the industry and official bodies.

From the Swiss side, 8 companies participated representing the subsectors mechanical engineering, high precision components, electronics, motion simulators, ground equipment and quality management. The program of the delegation included a seminar with Roscosmos, its companies and the Bauman University, a visit of the faculty of space research of the Moscow State University, the companies Sputnix, NIITP, NPO Lavochkina, the famous RKC Progress as well as individual B2B meetings. During the mission it became evident that in order to have sustainable results there has to be a follow-up. Therefore we are currently discussing with Roscosmos further steps to develop the cooperation.