The Director General of Russia’s state-owned Voronezh rocket engine site, Ivan Koptev has “tendered his resignation” according to Russia’s Roscosmos space agency. There have been considerable anxieties over rocket failures and quality control issues at the plant.

Koptev was responsible for the Soyuz and Proton rocket engines built at the site. The facility has a long aviation and space history. The rocket engines for Yuri Gagarin’s debut orbital flight were built at Voronezh as was the Russian ‘Concordski’ (Tu-144) supersonic aircraft.

Koptev and his team were responsible for building the Proton-M second and third stages, as well as the upper stages of the Soyuz rockets.

He will be replaced by his deputy Alexei Uvarov.

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