Russian cosmonauts stationed in the ISS will not take part in certain experiments, announced the Russian agency Roscosmos. These are the first concrete repercussions in the space of the war in Ukraine.
The first consequences of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine were felt in space. On board the international space station, the progress of certain missions will be disrupted: the Russian space agency, Roscosmos, announced in a tweet that Russian astronauts will not take part in certain experiments carried out in the station. Specifically, the Russians will no longer work with the German astronaut on board the ISS, Matthias Maurer.
Roscosmos” will not cooperate with Germany on joint experiments on the Russian segment of the ISS”, explains the agency in the tweet, specifying that the Russian cosmonauts will lead them independently. ” Russia’s space program will be adjusted to meet sanctions “, is it also indicated. ” The priority will be the creation of satellites in the interest of defense “.
The daily life of the station turned upside down
Roscosmos’ announcement will have a significant impact on life on the ISS, without however being catastrophic: there is only one German astronaut on board the station. There are currently 7 people in the ISS, indicates the NASA website: Matthias Maurer, the representative of the European Space Agency, two Russian cosmonauts, and four Americans.
Although the announcement of the Russian agency upsets the planning and organization of the experiments to be carried out in space, the scope of these changes should be limited after all. The impact would have been much greater if the two Russians had been ordered not to cooperate with the four American astronauts. For the moment, neither NASA nor ESA have reacted. There are also no details available on the experiments the Russians will conduct on their own, or on the program to create Russian defense satellites mentioned in the Roscosmos tweet.
This is the first concrete consequence for the astronauts of the war in Ukraine. Russia has been the target of numerous economic sanctions since the start of the invasion, such as the banning of the banking messaging service Swift – and new punishments concerning crypto-currencies are being considered. But Russia also announced sanctions against Europeans and Americans.
Russia has already announced that Soyuz rockets will no longer take off from Guyana, and that they will no longer carry OneWeb satellites. And that’s not all: the execution of the ExoMars 2022 mission could be compromised. The rover, which is to be sent to Mars in September 2022, is the result of collaboration between ESA and Roscosmos – and this partnership is being undermined by current events. Between European economic sanctions against Russia and Russian reprisals in the space field, the future of ExoMars is uncertain. It is currently difficult to say if the mission will be able to leave in 2022, the year after, or if it could simply be canceled.
On February 25, the day after the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the ESA expressed optimism by stating that ” despite the current conflict, civil space cooperation remains a bridge. ESA continues to work on all of its programs, including the ISS and the ExoMars launch campaign, to deliver on commitments made with its Member States and partners. But since then, the situation has changed a lot, and relations between ESA and Roscosmos no longer seem to be so cordial.