Russian space chief: Sanctions could imperil space station
MOSCOW — The head of Russia’s space program said Saturday that the future of the International Space Station hangs in the balance after the United States, the European Union, and Canadian space agencies missed a deadline to meet Russian demands for lifting sanctions on Russian enterprises and hardware.
Dmitry Rogozin, the head of Roscosmos, told reporters that the state agency is preparing a report on the prospects of international cooperation at the station, to be presented to federal authorities “after Roscosmos has completed its analysis.”
Rogozin implied on Russian state TV that the Western sanctions, some of which predate Russia’s cur
rent military operations in Ukraine, could disrupt the operation of Russian spacecraft
servicing the ISS with cargo flights. Russia also sends manned missions to the space station.
He stressed that the Western partners need the space station and “cannot manage without Russia, because no one but us can deliver fuel to the station.”
Rogozin added that “only the engines of our cargo craft are able to correct the ISS’s orbit, keeping it safe from space debris.”
Rogozin later Saturday wrote on his Telegram channel that he received responses from his Western counterparts vowing to promote “further cooperation on the ISS and its operations.”
He reiterated his view that “the restoration of normal relations between partners in the ISS and other joint (space) projects is possible only with the complete and unconditional lifting” of sanctions, which he referred to as illegal.
Space is one of the last remaining areas of cooperation between Moscow and Western nations.
“Everybody I met through the
NEWPRO process has been amazing! I get compliments on the
siding all the time and it’s like pulling into A new home.”
- Natalie, Mendon, MA