Khrunichev Space Center
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| Federal state unitary enterprise | |
| Industry | Aerospace |
| Founded | 1916 |
| Headquarters | Moscow, Russia |
| Parent | Roscosmos |
| Website | www |
Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center (ГКНПЦ им. М. В. Хру́ничева in Russian) is a Moscow-based producer of spacecraft and space-launch systems, including the Proton and Rokot rockets. The company's history dates back to 1916, when an automobile factory was established outside Moscow. It soon switched production to airplanes and during World War II produced Ilyushin Il-4 and Tupolev Tu-2 bombers. A design bureau, OKB-23, was added to the company in 1951. In 1959, the company started developing intercontinental ballistic missiles, and later spacecraft and space launch vehicles. The company designed and produced all Soviet space stations, including Mir. OKB-23, renamed to Salyut Design Bureau, became an independent company in 1988. In 1993, the Khrunichev Plant and the Salyut Design Bureau were joined again to form Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center. In the 1990s, the company entered the International Launch Services joint-venture to market launches on its Proton rocket. Khrunichev subsequently became a successful launch service provider on the international space launch market.
The company currently has an over 30% market share of the global space launch market, and its revenue from commercial space launches in 2009 was $584 million. Current number of employees - about 35,000. It is named after Mikhail Khrunichev, a Soviet minister.
Khrunichev's history dates back to April 1916, when an automobile factory called Second "Russo-Balt" automobile plant was established outside Moscow. The first cars of the Russo-Balt brand were produced there in 1922. The next year, the factory switched to producing Ju-20 and Ju-21 aircraft for the German company Junkers. The development of a Russian aircraft industry started soon after. During World War II, the plant produced Russian-designed Ilyushin Il-4 and Tu-2 long-range bombers. This factory later became the Khrunichev Machine Building Plant.
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