A tacit threat by the Russian space agency chief has led to fears that the war in Ukraine could have serious consequences for the International Space Station (ISS), which, in turn, could have its fallout on India.
In a series of tweets on February 24, Dmitry Rogozin, Director General of Roscosmos, cautioned the countries should “prevent your sanctions from falling on your head, and not only in a figurative sense.” He was responding to news that US sanctions, imposed in retaliation for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, could affect the Russian space programme.
In a series of tweets on February 24, Dmitry Rogozin, Director General of Roscosmos, cautioned the countries should “prevent your sanctions from falling on your head, and not only in a figurative sense.” He was responding to news that US sanctions, imposed in retaliation for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, could affect the Russian space programme.
“If you block cooperation with us, then who is going to save the ISS from an uncontrolled descent from orbit and then falling onto the territory of the United States or Europe?” he wrote, adding: “There is also a scenario where the 500-tonne structure falls on India or China. Do you want to threaten them with this prospect? The ISS doesn’t fly over Russia, so all the risks are yours.
NASA, however, shrugged off public comments from the head of its Russian counterpart.
Russia and the US are the major partners in the ISS programme, which also includes Canada, Japan and several European nations like France, Italy and Spain.
The US and its allies have decided to block assets of four large Russian banks, impose export controls and sanction oligarchs close to Russian President Vladimir Putin after he ordered a “special military operation” against Ukraine.
Following US President Joe Biden’s announcement of new sanctions that “will degrade” Russia’s “aerospace industry, including their space programme”, Roscosmos Director General Rogozin tweeted that ISS orbit and location in space are controlled by Russian engines.
The International Space Station (ISS) is a modular space station (habitable artificial satellite) in low Earth orbit. The ownership and use of the space station is established by inter-Governmental treaties and agreements. The station serves as a microgravity and space environment research laboratory in which scientific research is conducted in astrobiology, astronomy, meteorology, physics, and other fields.
The ISS is suited for testing the spacecraft systems and equipment required for possible future long-duration missions to the Moon and Mars.
The station is divided into two sections: the Russian Orbital Segment (ROS) is operated by Russia, while the United States Orbital Segment (USOS) is run by the United States as well as by the other states. The Russian segment includes six modules. The US segment includes ten modules.
The ISS was originally intended to be a laboratory, observatory, and factory while providing transportation, maintenance, and a low Earth orbit staging base for possible future missions to the Moon, Mars, and asteroids. However, not all of the uses envisioned in the initial memorandum of understanding between NASA and Roscosmos have been realised. In the 2010 United States National Space Policy, the ISS was given additional roles of serving commercial, diplomatic, and educational purposes.
Since the International Space Station is a multi-national collaborative project, the components for in-orbit assembly were manufactured in various countries around the world.
