Russia's plan to advertise on rockets and spacecraft takes off

Roscosmos received amendments granting it the right, effective January 1, 2026, to place advertising on space objects owned by the State Corporation and federally. The amendments aim to create a mechanism for attracting private investment in Russian space exploration and reduce the burden on the state budget. Russia has already begun pervasive space advertising, with reports of six large advertisements placed on Russian rockets in 2026, including ads for PSB Bank, Kofemaniya, Russian Media Group, and the Russian Olympic Committee, plus two public service announcements. The advertising is unlikely to offset major losses caused by Western sanctions, which have reduced international purchases of Soyuz and Proton launches. Launch activity has also declined, with 17 Russian launches in both 2024 and 2025.

"“According to the amendments, Roscosmos has been granted the right, effective January 1, 2026, to place advertising on space objects owned by both the State Corporation itself and federally,” the state-owned space corporation, Roscosmos, said. “The amendments will create a mechanism for attracting private investment in Russian space exploration and reduce the burden on the state budget.”"

"So Russia entered the brave new world of pervasive space advertising a few months ago. The Russian business newspaper Vedomosti reported that six large advertisements have been placed on Russian rockets in 2026. These include ads for PSB Bank, the Kofemaniya restaurant chain, the Russian Media Group, and the Russian Olympic Committee. The other two were public service announcements."

"Like other segments of the Russian economy, Roscosmos has been subject to Western sanctions since the outbreak of the war against Ukraine. International partners, particularly the European Space Agency and commercial customers, stopped purchasing launches on Soyuz and Proton vehicles. According to some estimates, the sanctions cost Roscosmos $2.5 billion since the start of the war. The new advertising won't offset those losses in a meaningful way. Annual revenues from space advertising may only amount to a few million dollars per year, Russian news sources say."

"For example, Russia recently extended its human spaceflight missions to the International Space Station from six to eight months to reduce the number of Soyuz rockets and spacecraft used by the program. And the overall health of the Russian launch industry continues to decline. In both 2024 and 2025, the total number of Russian launches fell to 17 annually."

Read at Ars Technica