Roscosmos Plans to Auction Off Vintage Space Gear to Benefit Charity

In an interview with RBC channel, Dmitry Bakanov, the CEO of Roscosmos, revealed that the state corporation plans to auction off old artifacts leftover from space missions. According to Bakanov, these items are sought after by collectors. The funds raised will be directed toward charitable causes, such as financing school trips to competitions or providing grants to promising students.

The head of Roscosmos emphasized that there is significant interest in historical items that have either been used or decommissioned by the agency. Many of these devices or their components are currently stored in basements, and the corporation aims to start selling them for charitable purposes. Bakanov noted that Roscosmos frequently receives inquiries from those interested in purchasing astronaut-signed gloves or space suits.

In the same interview, the Roscosmos chief also mentioned that Russia has begun developing a rocket with a reusable first stage. The government contract was signed in June 2025. Bakanov specified that the project is known as «Grasshopper,» which aims to enable the return of the rocket’s first stage to Earth, reducing launch costs.

On July 20, 2025, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) announced the initiation of sales for decommissioned spacecraft. The agency is set to sell several Earth observation satellites that were previously used for environmental monitoring, hurricane forecasting, and assessing the impacts of climate change.