Russia's space agency Roscosmos announced last Thursday, February 14, that the latest US sanctions related to the country might inflict some severe issues for the International Space Station and its corresponding programs.
Russian Space Agency Warns Impact on Space Lab Cooperations
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin (front L) gestures as Russian President Vladimir Putin (front C), State Space Corporation ROSCOSMOS Director General Igor Komarov (front R) and Russian Deputy Prime Minister and Head of ROSCOSMOS Supervisory committee, Dmitry Rogozin (back) as they visit the reconstructed historical 'Space' pavilion at the VDNH (Exhibition of Achievements of National Economy) multifunctional exhibition centre in Moscow, on April 12, 2018. - Russia marks the Cosmonautics Day on 12 April.
A tweet from Roscosmos director-general Dimitry Rogozin asked its partner countries if they "want to destroy Russia's cooperation" on the ISS. The message was translated by Rob Mitchell and shared by Ars Technica senior space editor Eric Berger.
Russia is among the major collaborators of the ISS program, along with the United States, Japan, Canada, and other European countries.
Russia invaded its neighboring country Ukraine last week. The country has deployed a series of military attacks for the past few days. The recent actions from Russia were obviously deemed as reckless and devastating by other countries, which put them in a critical situation in terms of economic aspects.
Russia's invasion triggered many of the largest country's leaders, including US president Joe Biden, and pushed them to impose sanctions due to the aggressor's attacks. According to a report by Space, Biden said in his series of warnings that the sanctions may degrade Russia's space program.
On the other hand, NASA said that they would continue to cooperate with the country, especially with the projects that are related to the ISS.
Rogozin's reaction to the new sanctions might impact the future of the ISS and the security of its orbital operations in space. The area responsible for the navigation and control of the ISS complex is dominated by Russian systems. The orbit-raising boosts of the ISS are also maintained by the Russian cargo called Progress, preventing the space land from falling too near to our planet's atmosphere.
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Roscosmos' Rogozin and the Space Community
Rogozin's statement seems to be accusing the United States of "limiting exchanges" between their country and major ISS partners. The director-general even threatened that any unwanted actions could irrevocably void the ISS agreements.
Rogozin also mentioned that the US president is "out of the loop" and clueless about how the Russian system enables the ISS to be protected from the dangers of space junks. He even mentioned that the majority of the space junks originated from talented businessmen from the west.
Although Rogozin did not drop any names, one of them is most likely Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk. The tech giant is known for his new Starlink projects that included several launches for the completion of a satellite mega constellation for internet services.
SpaceX has already launched a total of 2,000 satellites for the Starlink project. The current population of the devices will be added with future deliveries to complete the company's goal of 40,000 satellites.
Among the issues raised by Rogozin, there was no mention of the incident in November 2021, where a Russian anti-satellite endangered the ISS by dispersing huge volumes of debris around the space lab's vicinity. The event risked the safety of the whole orbital complex and the crew, including several Russian experts, who were aboard that time.
Rogozin is notorious for bringing up threats in the international space community. In 2014, the director-general said that astronauts should just use trampolines instead of utilizing the Russian Soyuz spacecraft - a time when the capsule was the only provider of space crew trips and SpaceX's projects are still in development.
"If you block cooperation with us, who will save the ISS from an unguided deorbit to impact on the territory of the U.S. or Europe?" Rogozin said. "There's also the chance of impact of the 500-ton construction in India or China," he adds.
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