Minister orders Russian space agency security blitz after blogger invasion

Russia’s space agency Roscosmos has been given until January to rectify security at its plants or face the consequences, after a reported penetration of its rocket plant in northern Moscow. A group of Russian bloggers claimed in a report posted on the Internet that they managed to get inside the Energomash plant in Moscow’s Khimki district, which manufactures liquid-propellant engines for civilian and military rockets. They were able to wander about and take pictures for five days, and did not see any security officers. Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said harsh measures would be taken to enforce security and punish the “sleepy cats” responsible for the plant’s security. “There will be no freewheeling,” he told Roscosmos chief Vladimir Popovkin, and also gave a warning to the bloggers, who he called “cheeky mice.” “I don’t advise anybody to penetrate strategic installations anymore,” he said. The Energomash plant can be accessed through holes in the fence, which it has no money to repair, Energia rocket and space corporation’s Senior Vice President Vladimir Osmolovsky told Izvestia newspaper.