The Roscosmos chief said he will not cooperate with the West until sanctions on Russia are lifted .
Russia ‘s Roscosmos space agency will stop working with NASA and other Western space agencies on the International Space Station ( ISS ) .
On Saturday, Roscosmos director Dmitry Rogozin criticized international sanctions against Russia , saying that normal cooperation between the space agency and its Western counterparts would only be possible after they were lifted.
“The purpose of the sanctions is to destroy the Russian economy, plunge our people into despair and hunger, and bring our country to its knees. It is clear that they will not succeed, but the intentions are clear,” Rogozin said in a tweet. “That is why I believe that the restoration of normal relations between partners on the International Space Station and other projects is only possible with the complete and unconditional removal of illegal sanctions.”
The end of cooperation?
Rogozin said Roscosmos would submit proposals to end its work with NASA and other international space agencies to Russian authorities, but it was not yet clear how the decision would affect the space station.
The change of heart is strange after Russia brought American Mark Vande Hei to Earth and NASA itself noted that it was still on good terms with the Russian agency on the way to cooperation at the end of decades.
The ISS is not owned by a single country. The United States, the European Union, Russia, Canada and Japan operate the station through a cooperation agreement between the countries. Roscosmos, however, is critical to the ISS. The Russian Orbital Segment handles guidance control for the entire station.
The United States and many other countries imposed harsh sanctions on Russia following its invasion of Ukraine on February 24. Among other effects, those sanctions have caused average Russians to lose access to many Western-made services, including services from Apple and Google. They have also made it harder for Russian companies to withdraw profits from online marketplace platforms like Steam.
The ISS is not the first joint space program to see its future shrouded in uncertainty due to rising tensions between the West and Russia. In March, Roscosmos said it would not carry OneWeb’s internet satellites into space until its stake in the company was sold by the UK government . That same month, the European Space Agency announced that it was suspending its joint ExoMars mission with Roscosmos.
