Russia suspends cooperation with the International Space Station until sanctions are lifted

The Russian space agency Roscosmos has announced that it will suspend cooperation in connection with the International Space Station (ISS).

This came in response to the sanctions imposed by the international community on Russia that were sparked by the Kremlin’s war against Ukraine.

The purpose of the sanctions is to “kill the Russian economy, plunge our people into despair and hunger, and bring our country to its knees,” Dmitry Rogozin, head of the space agency, wrote on Twitter. “They will not succeed, but the intentions are clear,” he added.

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– ??????? (Rogozin) April 2, 2022

He added that he would present a timetable for the completion of current projects to the Kremlin.

Rogozin went on to say that restoring normal relations between the partners of the International Space Station and other projects is possible only by lifting “unlawful” sanctions. In general, the ISS itself involves the participation of five different space agencies, namely NASA (USA), Roscosmos (Russia), JAXA (Japan), European Space Agency (Europe) and CSA (Canada) with the Russian orbital segment (ROS)) Handle navigation and guidance for the whole station.

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– ??????? (Rogozin) April 2, 2022

Most of the astronauts aboard the International Space Station are currently returning to Earth on Russian Soyuz flights, but Elon Musk’s SpaceX Crew Dragon is also transporting the crew to the space station and has made four visits so far since its first flight in 2020.

The current crew consists of three Americans (Kayla Baron, Thomas Marchborn, Raja Shari), three Russians (Oleg Artemyev, Denis Matveyev, Sergei Korsakov) and one German (Matthias Maurer).

The ISS, a symbol of post-Cold War bulge, is split in half, with life support coming from the American half, and thrust, preventing it from falling to Earth from the Russian side.

Rogozin previously said that if Russia stops supporting the International Space Station, it may fall to the United States or Europe. The US said it would be “extremely difficult” to operate the satellite alone.

Last month, Roscosmos canceled a planned satellite launch for OneWeb in retaliation for UK sanctions against Russia. The country is also becoming increasingly cut off from digital and financial platforms as major payment processors leave the country and Google has paused App Store payments.