Roscosmos former head Popovkin dies

"Vladimir Alexandrovich Popovkin has died at the age of 58 after a disease," the Roscosmos spokeswoman, Irina Zubareva told ITAR-TASS on Wednesday. Popovkin was born in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, on September 25, 1957. In 2011-2013 he was head of the Russian Federal Space Agency. Before the appointment Popovkin was Russia's first deputy defense minister, Itar-Tass reports. Earlier, he was chief of armament of Russia's Armed Forces, Russia's deputy defense minister (2008-2010), Russian Space Forces commander (2004-2008) and chief of staff, first deputy commander of Russian Space Forces (2001-2204).