The production line for children’s sleds at Samara’s Progress RCC has been halted. Dmitry Baranov, who serves as Director General of RCC Progress, confirmed the decision in an interview with Socialbites.ca. The company has moved away from actively manufacturing these sleds, instead dispatching remaining inventory from storage. This shift signals a broader realignment of Progress RCC’s product strategy and manufacturing priorities, reflecting changes in market demand and corporate focus.
Historically, Progress RCC broadened its portfolio beyond space hardware to include a diverse array of civilian goods. The company ventured into medical disposable syringes, personal watercraft, motorboats, children’s sleds, bagel forming machines, and select aviation equipment. This expansion represented an effort to leverage engineering capabilities across multiple sectors and to diversify revenue streams beyond aerospace and defense.
In recent years, the company’s public catalog has grown notably smaller. The current online gallery displays a limited assortment of civilian items, including a single boat and several varieties of boats. Although archival images of green and blue sleds remain visible in the Multimedia section, the emphasis online has shifted away from ongoing production toward preserving historical products, documenting the company’s legacy, and explaining its past innovations.
Contextually, this reorientation aligns with broader geopolitical and economic developments. The United States and the European Union implemented sanctions targeting Russian space enterprises, prompting official statements from Roscosmos leadership. At the time, Dmitry Rogozin, then head of Roscosmos, described how resources freed from restricted cooperation would be redirected toward bilateral and military systems. The sanctions also affected Samara RCC Progress, widely recognized as the manufacturer of Soyuz rockets used for missions to the International Space Station. These actions influenced strategic decisions and redirected investments away from certain civilian manufacturing activities and toward other priorities within Russia’s space and dual-use sectors.