Oleg Nikolayevich Ostapenko (, , born 3 May 1957) is the former director of

Roscosmos The State Corporation for Space Activities "Roscosmos", commonly known simply as Roscosmos (), is a State corporation (Russia), state corporation of the Russian Federation responsible for space science, space flights, List of space agencies, c ...

, the federal space agency, retired

Colonel General Colonel general is a military rank used in some armies. It is particularly associated with Germany, where historically General officer#Old European system, general officer ranks were one grade lower than in the Commonwealth and the United States, ...

in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, former Deputy Minister of Defence, and former commander of the Aerospace Defence Forces, a position he held from their foundation on 1 December 2011 until his promotion in November 2012. Prior to this he was commander of the Russian Space Forces from 2008, replacing Vladimir Popovkin. Ostapenko joined the Soviet

Strategic Rocket Forces The Strategic Rocket Forces of the Russian Federation or the Strategic Missile Forces of the Russian Federation (RVSN RF; ) is a military branch, separate combat arm of the Russian Armed Forces that controls Russia's land-based intercontinenta ...

in 1979 after graduating from the Felix Dzerzhinsky Military Academy, specialising in 'Strategic Missiles, Engines, and Production Equipment'. He undertook higher military studies, ending in 1992 and moved into the Ministry of Defence Space Units. He held a number of roles at Titov Main Test and Space Systems Control Centre ending with being

Chief of Staff The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supportin ...

from 2002 to 2004. In 2004, he was promoted to be First Deputy Chief of Staff of the Russian Space Forces and after undertaking a

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

in military sciences he became the commander of

Plesetsk Cosmodrome Plesetsk Cosmodrome () is a Russian spaceport located in Mirny, Arkhangelsk Oblast, near the town of Plesetsk, from which it takes its name. Until 2025 and the commissioning of the Andøya Space, Andøya base in Norway, it was the only operati ...

in 2007. A year later on 30 June 2008 he was promoted to be commander of the Russian Space Forces replacing Vladimir Popovkin who became a Deputy Defence Minister. He was commander of the Aerospace Defence Forces from 1 December 2011 to 9 November 2012 and was promoted to the rank of

on 9 August 2012. On 9 November 2012, he was appointed as a Deputy Minister of Defence and relieved of his command of the Aerospace Defence Forces. On 10 October 2013, Ostanpenko was discharged from military service and relieved of his post in order to become the

General Director A director general, general director or director-general (plural: ''directors general'', ''general directors'', ''directors-general'', ''director generals'' or ''director-generals'') is a senior executive officer, often the chief executive officer ...

of the Russian Federal Space Agency, which would be renamed

during his tenure. On 21 January 2015, Ostapenko was dismissed from Roscosmos.

Military education

General Ostapenko earned PhD in Military Sciences in 2007 * Graduated from F. Dzerzhinsky Military College, 1979 * Graduate from the Command Faculty of F. Dzerzhinsky Military College, 1992 * Completed his specialty studies by graduating from the General Staff Academy of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, 2007

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ostapenko, Oleg 1957 births Recipients of the Order of Military Merit (Russia) Russian colonel generals Living people Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Russia alumni Deputy defence ministers of Russia