Russia threatens to leave the International Space Station program over US sanctions: Report – Eminetra

Russian Space Secretary threatens to leave International Space Station The 2025 (ISS) program unless the United States lifts sanctions on Russias space sector.

Roscosmos Executive Secretary Dmitry Rogozin told the Russian parliamentary hearing on Monday (June 7), If sanctions remain and will not be lifted in the near future, the issue of Russias withdrawal from the ISS will be a matter of American partners. It will be a responsibility. , According to NBC News..

We will work together, or in that case, the sanctions will be lifted immediately. If not, we will not work together and will deploy our own station, Rogozin added.Russia is coming soon Launch a new docking module On the ISS this summer Independent complex hub..

Relation: International Space Station: Inside and Outside (Infographic)

Rogozin also claimed that Russia could not launch some satellites because U.S. sanctions banned his country from importing some of the microchips needed for Russias programs, Reuters reports. It was. (There is also a global shortage of microchips related to production outages in the coronavirus pandemic.)

We have enough rockets, but nothing to launch them, Rogozin said. According to Reuters.. I have a nearly assembled spacecraft, but Im missing one particular microchipset that I have no way to buy because of sanctions.

In 2014, Rogozin famously stated: NASA must use trampoline Take astronauts to the ISS instead of the Russian Soyuz spacecraft. Comments were made after the United States and other Western nations imposed sanctions on Russian authorities, including Rogozin himself, in connection with Russias military operations in Crimea. (Soyuz was the only orbital astronaut taxi available after NASAs Space Shuttle fleet landed in 2011, but when SpaceX began flying crew to and from the ISS, the situation was It changed last year.)

Other recent sanctions have been triggered by what US officials have described as Russia-led cyberattacks and election interference, according to Reuters. In December, President Donald Trumps administration claimed that the Russian space entity TsNIIMash (Central Research Institute for Machinery Manufacturing) and the Rocket Space Center Progress had a connection with the armed forces, NBC reported. Such a designation means that US companies must obtain a license before selling to these organizations.

These entities were among the dozens monitored by the US Department of Commerce during Trumps tenure, both in Russia and China. New tensions have risen after new US President Joe Biden called Russias President Vladimir Putin a murderer earlier this year and then imposed further sanctions on Russia, according to Reuters. ..

Rogozin made an introduction call with new NASA administrator Bill Nelson on Friday (June 4th), NASA said the same day. In the statement, Assemble the conversation as a productive discussion of ongoing cooperation with NASA RoscosmosA statement citing Nelson also said NASA promises to continue its highly effective ISS partnership.

Still Statement of Roscosmos On Friday, he said the lack of official information on sanctions and the future of the ISS substantially hindered cooperation between Russia and the United States in the space territory dating back to the 1975s. Apollo-Soyuz Test Project Mission. The current ISS agreement is expected to end in 2024, but many partners are negotiating an extension until at least 2028.

Russia said more guarantees were needed to move forward after 2024. This concerns the sanctions introduced by the US government on Russian space industry companies and the lack of official information from US partners in Roscosmos. We plan to further manage and operate the ISS. Told.

Relation: Construction of the International Space Station (photo)

Both NASA and Roscosmos said they plan to continue discussions, including face-to-face discussions. Nelson is expected to come to Russia soon and will continue to negotiate with Europeans until end of June 2021, Roscosmos said.

One of the opportunities for discussion is the Global Space Exploration Conference in St. Petersburg from June 14th to June 18th. The conference is co-sponsored by Roscosmos and the International Astronomical Union.

Americans and Russians have been major partners in the ISS program since the collapse of the Soviet Union in the 1990s and the change of the space station agreement to bring Russias participation. Go in the midst of the collapse of the Soviet Union. One of the reasons NASA offered to ferry Americans to Soviet-Russia was also to prepare for the long-term mission of the ISS. Mir Space Station In the 1990s.

When Russia was invited to the ISS project, Europe, Japan and Canada were working on another NASA-led program called Space Station Freedom. Freedom never landed on the ground It is due to complex technology, funding and policy issues under development.

Follow Elizabeth Howell on Twitter @ howellspace.follow us On Twitter @ Spacedotcom And on Facebook.

Russia threatens to leave the International Space Station program over US sanctions: Report

Source link Russia threatens to leave the International Space Station program over US sanctions: Report

See the article here:

Russia threatens to leave the International Space Station program over US sanctions: Report - Eminetra