minister Commanding Officer Colonel General
General Ostapenko earned Doctor of Philosophy in Military Sciences in 2007
Graduated from F. Dzerzhinsky Military College, 1979
Graduate from the Command Faculty of F. Dzerzhinsky Military College, 1992
Completed his specialty studies by graduating from the General Staff Academy of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, 2007.
Prior to this he was commander of the Russian Space Forces from 2008, replacing Vladimir Popovkin. Ostapenko joined the Soviet Strategic Missile Forces in 1979 after graduating from the Felix Dzerzhinsky military academy, specialising in "Strategic Missiles, Engines, and Production Equipment". He undertook higher military studies, ending in 1992 and moved into the Ministry of Defence Space Units.
A year later on 30 June 2008 he was promoted to be commander of the Russian Space Forces replacing Vladimir Popovkin who became a Deputy Defence Minister.
He was commander of the Aerospace Defence Forces from 1 December 2011 to 9 November 2012 and was promoted to the rank of Colonel General on 9 August 2012. On 9 November 2012 he was appointed as a Deputy Minister of Defence and relieved of his command of the Aerospace Defence Forces.
On October 10, 2013 Ostanpenko has been discharged from military service and relieved of his post to head Roscosmos, the federal space agency.
He held a number of roles at Titov Main Test and Space Systems Control Centre ending with being Chief of Staff from 2002 to 2004. In 2004 he was promoted to be First Deputy Chief of Staff of the Russian Space Forces and after undertaking a Doctor of Philosophy in military sciences he became the commander of Plesetsk Cosmodrome in 2007.
