Muristek
Moscow, February 26
Russia's space agency chief has warned the US that the slew of sanctions imposed on Moscow can "destroy our cooperation" on the International Space Station (ISS) and asked Washington if it wants to threaten India and China with the "possibility of a 500-tonne structure falling" on them.
Russian space agency issues warning
If you block cooperation, who will save the International Space Station from an uncontrolled deorbit and fall into the US, Europe, India or China? Dmitry Rogozin, roscosmos chief
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 on Thursday.
Following US President Joe Biden's announcement of new sanctions on Thursday that "will degrade" Russia's "aerospace industry, including their space programme", Roscosmos Director General Dmitry Rogozin on Friday tweeted that ISS orbit and location in space were controlled by Russian engines.
"Do you want to threaten them with such a prospect? The ISS does not fly over Russia, therefore all the risks are yours. Are you ready for them?" the Russian space agency chief asked. One of his tweets read, "Do you want to destroy our cooperation on the ISS?," according to New York-based astronomy news website space.com. The Russian segment of the ISS is responsible for guidance, navigation and control for the entire complex. NASA has not responded directly to Rogozin's remarks, but it notes that the US space agency "continues working with Roscosmos and our other international partners. —