A fire broke out Wednesday at a major Russian defense plant in Perm that manufactures rocket engines for the country’s space and military-industrial sector.
Russia’s Emergency Situations Ministry said the blaze occurred at an “industrial enterprise” in the Novye Lyady settlement and covered around 2,100 square meters. No casualties were reported.
Local Telegram channels, citing eyewitnesses, identified the facility as Proton-PM, also known as Proton-Perm Motors.
Open-source intelligence analyst ASTRA later geolocated eyewitness footage, confirming that the fire occurred on the grounds of Proton-PM.
The company is part of Russia’s state-run Roscosmos space corporation and the NPO Energomash industrial group. It produces liquid-fuel rocket engines used in Russia’s Proton and Angara launch vehicles.
While Proton-PM is officially part of Russia’s space industry, its production base is closely tied to the country’s broader military-industrial and aerospace capabilities.
The newer Angara-1.2 and Angara-A5 orbital lifters are central to Moscow’s plan to speed deployment the Rassvet constellation of satellites – the Kremlin’s analog to Starlink – into low-Earth-orbit, according to a new report from Militarnyi.
Both Ukrainian officials and the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) have reported that the Kremlin wants to have Rassvet operational with 292 satellites on station in 2027.
The cause of Wednesday’s fire remains unknown. Russian authorities have not said whether the blaze was the result of an accident, equipment failure or any other incident.