(Moscow) The head of Russia’s space program says the future of the International Space Station (ISS) hangs in the balance after Canadian, US and European agencies refused to lift sanctions on Russian companies and equipment.
Posted at 5:08 p.m.
Dmitry Rogozin, the president of Roscomos, indicated that the agency was preparing a report on the prospects for international cooperation at the space station. This report will be presented to the Russian authorities “when Roscomos has completed its analysis”.
Mr Rogozin hinted on Russian state television that Western sanctions, some of which predated the invasion of Ukraine, could disrupt Russian activities at the International Space Station. Russia also sends cosmonauts there.
He stressed that his Western partners needed the space station. “They can’t do it without Russia, because only we can deliver fuel there,” he said.
Mr Rogozin added that only “Russian engines can correct the orbit of the ISS protecting it from space debris”.
He later wrote on his Telegram channel that he got responses from his Western counterparts pledging to promote “greater cooperation on the ISS and its operations.”
The Canadian Space Agency declined to comment on Mr. Rogozin’s remarks. NASA and the European Space Agency have not yet responded to a request for comment.
The president of Roscomos reiterated his opinion that “a return to normal relations between the partners of the ISS and other projects [spatiaux] was only possible if all sanctions were lifted unconditionally”.
Currently, the United States and Russia continue to collaborate in space. A NASA astronaut returned to Earth on Wednesday aboard a Russian Soyuz capsule after a 355-day stay on the International Space Station.
The return of Mark Vande Hei followed normal protocols. A small team of NASA doctors were on hand. All returned to the United States.