Moscow halts cooperation on International Space Station over ‘illegal’ sanctions
The Kremlin announced today it will halt all cooperation on the International Space Space Station after Western countries imposed a blanket of sanctions on Moscow following the Ukraine war’s outbreak.
Dmitry Rogozin, head of Russia’s space agency Roscomos, said it will no longer work with partners such as NASA and the European Space Agency as the sanctions aim “kill Russian economy and plunge our people into despair and hunger, to get our country on its knees.”
“That’s why I believe that the restoration of normal relations between the partners at the International Space Station (ISS) and other projects is possible only with full and unconditional removal of illegal sanctions.”
Following Moscow’s decision to send troops to Ukraine, the European Space Agency said it would suspend cooperation with Roscosmos over the rover mission to search for life on Mars, while UK satellite company OneWeb said it had asked SpaceX to send its satellites into orbit after cancelling a Russian launch in early March.