RUSSIA’S WAR IN UKRAINE REORDERS SPACE ALLIANCES
Fallout from international sanctions leaves Russia’s space program isolated.
The repercussions of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine — the largest land war in Europe since World War II, still ongoing as of this writing — have extended not just beyond Ukraine’s borders but also above Earth’s atmosphere.
When Russia invaded Ukraine
Feb. 24, much of the world responded by levying economic sanctions on Russia and rushing aid and weapons to Ukraine. In response, the Russian space agency Roscosmos cut ties and canceled agreements with a string of spacefaring nations. The war has also forced the international scientific community to weigh the moral cost of collaborations with Russia, pushing relationships forged after the Cold War beyond the breaking point.
In one of the highest-profile breaks, the European Space Agency (ESA) announced March 17 it would suspend work on the ExoMars rover, which it built in a joint mission with Roscosmos. The rover had been scheduled to launch aboard a Russian Proton rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome later in 2022. Russia had also been set to provide the landing vehicle that would carry the rover to the martian surface.
“As an intergovernmental organization mandated to develop and implement space programs in full respect with European values, we deeply deplore the human casualties and tragic consequences of the aggression towards Ukraine,” the agency said in a statement after a meeting of its ruling council March 17, adding that it is “fully aligned with the sanctions imposed on Russia by its Member States.”
ESA officials are now exploring options to team up with other nations and agencies to finish the mission.
The rover, named Rosalind Franklin, is “technically ready for launch,” says ESA. But in May 3 comments reported by SpaceNews at a conference in Denver, ExoMars ESA project scientist Jorge Vago said that realistically, the rover would not launch before 2028.
FRAYING TIES
ExoMars isn’t the only collaboration that has fallen by the wayside. In the days immediately after the invasion,
Roscosmos responded to international sanctions by severing a series of ties with the U.S., U.K., and Europe.
On Feb. 26, Roscosmos Director General Dmitry Rogozin said Russia would halt Soyuz rocket launches from Europe’s spaceport in French Guiana. Previously scheduled Soyuz launches of European payloads included Galileo satellites for Europe’s global navigation system and ESA’s Euclid infrared space telescope. ESA hopes to launch the craft on different rockets — perhaps the agency’s own upcoming Ariane 6 or Vega-C launchers.
Also on Feb. 26, Rogozin declared NASA could no longer participate in Russia’s Venera-D mission, a Venus orbiter and lander planned for 2029. (This was largely ceremonial, as no formal role for NASA had yet been agreed on.)
And on March 4, Rogozin canceled a contract for a series of launches with the London-based internet provider OneWeb, even as 36 of the company’s craft sat loaded in a Soyuz rocket on a Baikonur launchpad. The cancellation came after Rogozin demanded March 2 that OneWeb guarantee its satellites would only be used for civilian purposes and that the U.K. divest its partial ownership of the company.
Both demands were rebuffed. Later that month, OneWeb announced it had reached a deal with SpaceX to conduct future launches of its satellites.
One project that has remained outwardly unaffected by the war in Ukraine is the International Space Station (ISS), in which Russia is a key partner — for now. However, Rogozin has threatened to pull Russia out of the ISS and undock Russian modules and spacecraft. Russia contributed the station’s service module, which is responsible for keeping the ISS aloft, periodically boosting its orbit to counteract drag from Earth’s upper atmosphere.
In a Feb. 28 media teleconference, NASA’s head of human spaceflight, Kathryn Lueders, said SpaceX and Northrop Grumman could potentially provide reboost capabilities. But, she added, it would still be difficult to operate the station without some Russian cooperation.
Russia’s collapse in relations with the U.S. and Europe comes as it ramps up cooperation with China on plans for a lunar space station and base. If China remains willing to work with what is now a pariah state, the future of space exploration may look less like the global cooperative model of the ISS and more like a Cold War, with blocs of spacefaring nations.