The decision to use foreign hardware in Russian space rocket industry was a strategic mistake which had harmed reliability of the final products, a senior Russian official in the space industry said Wednesday.

"The decision to use foreign electronics instead of domestic ones was immature," Vice President of the United Rocket and Space Corporation Gennady Raikunov told reporters at his appointment ceremony.

Russian commercial satellites use up to 75 percent of foreign-made hardware, which has been the main source of problems, he said.

Raikunov also criticized the decision to equip Russian satellites with industrial hardware instead of space hardware only because the former is cheaper.

"Russia must become fully independent in its hardware designed to survive space mission," said Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin who also took part in the ceremony, adding that the space industry should become the engine of industry development.