MOSCOW. April 12 (Interfax) - Russia's State Duma on Monday insisted that Russia, "remaining the leader in the provision of the services of launching space vehicles, can and must enlarge its presence in space services markets."
"The event of April 12, 1961, has become an event of global significance for the entire multi-millennial history of mankind," the Duma said in a statement entitled "In Connection with the 50th Anniversary of the First Manned Space Flight, the Flight of Soviet Citizen Yury Alexeyevich Gagarin."
The statement expressed support for efforts by President Dmitry Medvedev and Russia's government to strengthen the country's positions as a great space power and called for keeping space clear of weapons of mass destructions.
"Russia takes consistent action for the prevention of the deployment in space of offensive armaments and for the prevention of an arms race in space," it said.
At the same, time, space technology is an essential means of ensuring Russia's national security, it argued.
"The modern image of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, their high battle readiness and effectiveness are impossible to achieve without space systems of satellite reconnaissance, communications, targeting, navigation and missile attack warning, and without space-based missile defenses," the document said.
The Duma credited Soviet scientists and engineers with a breakthrough in space exploration and with unique rocket designs many of which remain usable.
"Space rocket technology and space tests hold an extremely important place in national-scale projects in meteorology, cartography, communications, television, and the exploration of natural resources. The GLONASS global navigation satellite system is acquiring tremendous significance for the economy of the country," the statement said.
The Duma attached special importance to specialized space vehicles that can provide new fundamental data on the Earth, the solar system and more remote parts of space. "Such knowledge, in turn, lays the basis for the development of new technology that is of fundamental significance for the future of our country," it said.