Russia says sanctions could lead to the fall of the International Space Station – 12/03/2022 – Science

Western sanctions against Russia can be brought down International Space Station (ISS), Dmitry Rogozin, head of the Russian space agency Roscosmos, said Saturday (12).

According to him, the operation of the Russian missiles that supply the International Space Station will be hampered by sanctions, which will have an impact on the Russian part of the station, which is used mainly for orbit correction. Therefore, this could cause the 500-ton International Space Station to “scatter or land”.

“The Russian clip indicates that the station’s orbit is corrected (on average 11 times per year), also to avoid space debris,” explained Rogozin, who often shows support for the Russian military on social media.

After publishing a map of the world, the head of Roscosmos said that if the International Space Station were to fail, Russia would be protected.

“But the peoples of other countries and especially those led by the dogs of war (Western countries) should think about the price of sanctions against Roscosmos,” he wrote, calling those who imposed these punitive measures “insane.”

On the first of March, a NASA It indicated that it was working on finding solutions to keep the station in orbit without Russian help.

Crews and supplies in this segment are transported by Soyuz missiles and Progress ships for transporting food and cargo, both of which are Russian.

Rogozin explained that the launch pad needed for these missiles to reach their point is affected by “US sanctions since 2021 and European and Canadian sanctions since 2022.”

Roscosmos claims it has appealed to its American (NASA), Canadian (ASC) and European (ESA) partners “to demand an end to illegal sanctions against our companies.”

Space is one of the newest areas of cooperation between Russia and the United States.

In early March, Roscosmos announced its intention to prioritize the construction of military satellites, given Russia’s increasing isolation from the conflict.

Rogozin also announced that Russia would not supply the United States with engines for the Atlas and Antares missiles.

“Send them into space on their brooms,” he said.

On March 30, astronaut Mark Vande and cosmonauts Anton Shkaplerov and Potter Dubrov will return to Earth from the International Space Station aboard a Soyuz rocket.