On Saturday, the head of Russia’s space agency said that it would no longer work with partners, including NASA and the European Space Agency on the orbital outpost, citing crippling sanctions designed to “kill” the Russian economy.
Director general of Roscosmos, Dimitry Rogozin who controls Russia’s space program, criticized sanctions imposed by Western nations after Russia invaded Ukraine for jeopardizing collaboration in space on his Twitter account.
He claimed that the sanctions were designed to “kill the Russian economy, plunge our people into despair and hunger, and bring our country to its knees,” and that normal relations could only be restored if the “illegal” measures were lifted unconditionally.
“I believe that the restoration of normal relations between partners in the International Space Station and other joint projects is possible only with the complete and unconditional lifting of illegal sanctions,” Rogozin wrote.
считаю, что восстановление нормальных отношений между партнерами по Международной космической станции и другим совместным проектам возможно лишь при полной и безоговорочной отмене незаконных санкций.
Конкретные предложения “Роскосмоса” по срокам завершения сотрудничества в рамках— РОГОЗИН (@Rogozin) April 2, 2022
For years, the space station has been hailed as an example of Moscow-Washington cooperation in a post-Cold War world, and recent suggestions by Mr. Rogozin about its future have served as an indication of the severity of tensions between the West and Russia over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24.
While other joint projects, such as launches, had been canceled in the aftermath of Russia’s military assault on Ukraine, a collaboration between space agencies in the international lab had been largely unaffected by the ongoing war on Earth.
In a closely watched return last week, US astronaut Mark Vande Hei landed safely in the same capsule as two Russian cosmonauts, amid heightened tensions between Moscow and Washington over the conflict.
NASA and the other nations involved in the space station program have reached an agreement that will last until 2024. The United States wants to extend it until 2030.
Kathy Lueders, NASA’s associate administrator for space operations recently stated that discussions are underway.
During a news conference on Thursday about an upcoming launch of four astronauts to the space station on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, she said, “All of our international partners included Roscosmos are making progress on moving towards station extension to 2030.”
Sources: Theepochtimes, Theweek, Theguardian
How stupid a decision was it to leave ourselves with no independent access to OUR space station, requiring our astronauts to hitch a ride home with the Russians.
I say our space station because, if I recall ancient history correctly, we had to foot the bill for Russia’s share, as they weren’t getting it done.