  Russia gave the world the sputnik and the flight of Gagarin, having opened the space exploration era. For some time, space exploration in Russian and the West ran parallel and were closely intertwined with political priorities of the bipolar world. Today,
the competition in space is transitioning to the sphere of business while ambitious programmes require the pooling of intellectual, economic and financial resources of many countries.
 In the new situation Russia is seeking for its niche on the commercial satellite launch market as well as in international programmes. It has been successful enough. This situation was reflected at MAKS 2001: an aerospace system of the Air Launch corporation was unveiled for the public. The first launch under this promising commercial programme is slated for 2003 - the year another MAKS is slated for.
  By tradition, rockets are widely showcased at MAKS, with those offered currently for sale dominating. These are famous boosters from the Soyuz and Yamal families, the flight-tested Angara, Briz, Proton and Rockot upgrades, the Shtil launch vehicle and the Zenit-3SL
of the Sea Launch launching facility. The Baikal first stage booster technology demonstrator attracted close attention of the visitors as an embodiment of the multiple use of design components.
There are no rivals for the GLL-31 and GLL-VK flying testbeds designed to test hypersonic engines at Mach 10-14. MAKS has again revealed the expanded cooperation between Russian and foreign aerospace manufacturers in developing the international space station, the Sea Launch system, as well as satellite navigation and communications systems and launch vehicles. MAKS 2001 became a turning point in relations with European and US aerospace leaders - EADS and Boeing. 
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