Russia is threatening to withdraw from the International Space Station

The International Space Station could be severely affected by the war in Ukraine. According to Dimitry Rogozin, the leader of the Roscosmos space agency, Russia will no longer cooperate in this program as long as the partner countries impose economic restrictions on the country. Agencies in partner countries such as the US, Japan and Canada, as well as the European space agency ESA, have said they will continue to work with Russia on the ISS program.

Russia’s sanctions make cooperation for the International Space Station impossible, says Dimitri Rogozin

According to a letter to Rogozin, export sanctions on Russia should not affect cooperation between countries in order to maintain the safe operation of the International Space Station. Currently, the Russian module of the station is the one that keeps the station in orbit. Thus, Russia’s withdrawal could mean the end of the Station as we know it. In fact, the ISS is scheduled to be phased out in the next few years, leaving room for private solutions, but this plan is still quite far away, being scheduled for 2030.

Rogozin said on Twitter that the partnership could not continue:

“The position of our partners is clear: the sanctions will not be lifted. The purpose of the sanctions is to kill Russia’s economy, bring the people to despair and famine, and bring us to our knees. “

финансово-экономической и производственной деятельности наших высокотехнологичных предприятий. Ель санкций – убить экономику России, ввергнуть наш народ в отчаяние и голод, поставить нашу стран Понятно, что сделать это им не удастся, но намерения очевидны. Poetry

– РОГОЗИН (@Rogozin) April 2, 2022

He says he will make a decision soon to set a date by which Russia’s involvement in the ISS project will end. This date will then be forwarded to the Russian government.

However, at the moment, the operations on the Space Station are unaffected by this conflict. NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hey recently returned to Earth aboard a Russian Soyuz capsule, along with two other Russian cosmonauts. At the same time, just a few weeks ago, Rogozin distributed a fake video on his Telegram channel. He suggested that Russia would abandon astronauts of other origins on the station and disconnect the Russian module, leaving the station to collapse. Roscosmos reiterated that “he will not allow anyone to question his trust as a partner”, suggesting that he would not leave anyone behind.

source: The Verge