VORONEZH. Feb 26 (Interfax-AVN) - The Voronezh mechanical plant is ready to implement additional orders for the production of engines for carrier rockets, the plant's director Anatoly Chasovskikh said on Wednesday.
"The tragedy of the Columbia shuttle will have a series of technical consequences for the entire world. A conference of participants in international space programs will be held in March. It will determine the strategy and tactics of research for the next 1.5-2 years. If there are additional orders, our plant is ready to implement them," Chasovskikh told Interfax-Military News Agency.
The problem is the funding of the orders, not their volumes, he stressed.
"The plant supplies rocket engines on time, but head organizations in charge of assembly do not hurry up with payment," the director noted.
"In late 2002, it resulted in the two-month delay of salary payment, brought the hi-tech production to the brink of suspension, and nearly caused mass firing of workers," he stressed.
Chasovskikh recalled that Progress cargo spacecraft already delivered oxygen, food and water to the International Space Station after the Columbia crash. The stocks are enough to maintain life at the station for three months.
"The future largely depends on the Voronezh mechanical plant that has been working for the space industry for over 50 years. Soyuz, Soyuz-T, Progress and Proton carrier rockets are powered by the plant's engines," the director stressed.
"Despite insufficient funding, the Voronezh mechanical plant has boosted output of rocket engines considerably over the past decade," he added.