Aleksandr Valentinovich Golovko ( rus, Александр Валентинович Головко, uk, Олександр Валентинович Головко; born 29 January 1964) is a Russian colonel general in the

Russian military The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation (, ), commonly referred to as the Russian Armed Forces, are the military forces of Russia. In terms of active-duty personnel, they are the world's fifth-largest military force, with at least two m ...

and commander of the

Russian Space Forces The Russian Space Forces ( rus, Космические войска России, Kosmicheskie voyska Rossii, KV) are a branch of the Russian Aerospace Forces, that provides aerospace warning, air and space sovereignty, and other related protect ...

since 1 August 2015. Between 24 December 2012 until 31 July 2015 he was the Commander of the Aerospace Defence Forces.

Early life and education

Golovko is of Ukrainian descent and was born in the

Ukrainian SSR The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic ( uk, Украї́нська Радя́нська Соціалісти́чна Респу́бліка, ; russian: Украи́нская Сове́тская Социалисти́ческая Респ ...

in 1964. He joined the Soviet military and graduated from Marshal Leonid Govorov Air Defence and Radio Engineering Academy in 1986. After graduation he served in the

Titov Main Test and Space Systems Control Centre The Titov Main Test and Space Systems Control Centre ( rus, Главный испытательный центр испытаний и управления космическими средствами (ГИЦИУ КС), Glavny Ispytatelny Tsentr ...

in the Soviet and

Career

In 2003 he became Deputy Chief of Staff of the Russian Space Forces and then returned to the

as Chief of Staff from 2004 to 2007, and Commander from 2007 to 2011. From June 2011 to December 2012 he was the commander of

Plesetsk Cosmodrome Plesetsk Cosmodrome ( rus, Космодром «Плесецк», r=Kosmodrom "Plesetsk", p=kəsmɐˈdrom plʲɪˈsʲet͡sk) is a Russian spaceport located in Mirny, Arkhangelsk Oblast, about 800 km north of Moscow and approximately 200 ...

and was then appointed as head of the Aerospace Defence Forces, replacing

Oleg Ostapenko Oleg Nikolayevich Ostapenko ( rus, Олег Николаевич Остапенко, uk, Олег Миколайович Остапенко, born 3 May 1957) is the former director of Russian Federal Space Agency, Roscosmos, the federal space ag ...

, who had been promoted to Deputy Defence Minister. He commanded the

Russian Aerospace Defense Forces The Russian Aerospace Defence Forces (VVKO) ( rus, Войска воздушно-космической обороны (ВВКО), Voyska vozdushno-kosmicheskoy oborony (VVKO)) was a branch of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation responsi ...

from 2012 until August 2015 before he was appointed as commander of the reestablished

on the same day.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Golovko, Aleksandr 1964 births Recipients of the Order of Military Merit (Russia) Russian lieutenant generals Living people Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Russia alumni Space force commanders