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Russia’s attack on Ukraine halts rocket launches, Venus mission, casts doubt on ISS fate

After sanctions against Russia, chief of its space programme threatens lack of cooperation on the International Space Station, saying it might fall on US, Europe, China or India

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Bengaluru: The Russian space agency Roscosmos announced over the weekend that it is pausing international cooperation with the European Union on Soyuz rocket launches from French Guiana. 

The announcement comes in response to European sanctions imposed on Russia since its invasion of Ukraine. Russia also announced the withdrawal of its 87 staff personnel from the launch site. 

Concurrently, the chief of Russian space programme, Dmitry Rogozin, posted mocking tweets that threatened the cooperation among countries on the International Space Station (ISS) and the end of its life, in response to US sanctions against Russia announced Thursday. 

American president Joe Biden had said that the sanctions would degrade the Russian space programme, prompting a response from Rogozin, saying that lack of Russian cooperation on the ISS could cause the orbiting space laboratory to fall on China or India. 

“If you block cooperation with us, who will save the ISS from an uncontrolled deorbit and fall into the United States or Europe? There is also the option of dropping a 500-ton structure to India and China. Do you want to threaten them with such a prospect? The ISS does not fly over Russia, so all the risks are yours. Are you ready for them?” Rogozin wrote.

The statements have prompted concern in the scientific community about the fate of the space habitat, a collaboration between 15 nations, as a large part of its guidance and operations depend on Russian support. 

However, both NASA and Roscosmos confirmed later that collaboration on the ISS would continue as usual.

Russia has also suspended cooperation with American space agency NASA on the Venera-D Venus exploration mission. 

Russia and India closely collaborate on space missions as well — the shortlisted candidates for India’s first human spaceflight mission, Gaganyaan, underwent training in Russia. 

India’s first astronaut, Rakesh Sharma, flew on a Russian Soyuz rocket in 1984 and is the only Indian to be honoured with the Hero of the Soviet Union upon his return from space. 


Also read: NASA plans to destroy the International Space Station. But here are the risks involved


How does Russia help on the ISS?

The International Space Station (ISS) is a collaborative orbital laboratory. The ISS does not orbit directly over all of Russia, as Rogozin noted in his tweets. 

The ISS is inclined at 51.6 degrees from the equator, and the majority of Russia is located at latitudes above 60 degrees. This lack of visibility has been the main motivator behind Russia rallying to build its own space station with a better view of the country. 

Russia has previously flown and occupied three stations in space: Salyut, Almaz and Mir. 

The International Space Station is divided into two sections — the Russian Orbital Segment and the US Orbital segment. The Russian segment has six modules. 

The very first ISS module to be launched was Zarya, formerly a functional cargo block, now used for storage. There are other modules for docking, airlock systems, and more storage. 

The US, European, and Japanese laboratories, and the Russian module called Zvezda are separated by the length of the station. 

Part of the orbit of the International Space Station | Graphic: Yorks et al, NASA, CATS on ISS (2015)

Zvezda is not only the living quarters for the Russian crew on board, but is also a service module. It steers the ship when needed, making tiny orbital corrections to avoid being hit by space debris, and to prevent orbital decay (slowly spiralling into earth) by regularly increasing the ISS’s altitude to combat atmospheric drag. 

It also provides life-support systems along with the American lab, Destiny. 

Zvezda also has many portholes that enable the crew to look out at Earth, and has been the vantage point for many iconic photographs taken from the station. 

ISS space cooperation

The ISS is a space laboratory, with scientific projects and experiments on board. It orbits the earth once every 90 minutes, covering approximately 16 orbits each day at a speed of 7.6 kms a second. 

The main fields of research on board are human biology and physiology, space medicine, plant physiology and life sciences, physical sciences, meteorology and climate change monitoring, and astronomical sciences. 

Experiments on board have studied subjects like the effects of spaceflight on humans, muscle atrophy, bone loss and microgravity’s effects on tissue growth. 

There have also been hundreds of experiments in growing plants on board, investigating fluid mechanics, combustion mechanics, monitoring pollution and aerosols, studying cosmic rays and dark matter, observing volcanic eruptions, and more. 

The station has been continuously occupied for over 21 years, since 2001. There are currently seven members on board the orbiting station — four American astronauts (NASA), one German astronaut (ESA), and two Russian cosmonauts (Roscosmos). 

Until recently, NASA sent astronauts to the ISS on Soyuz rockets with Russia’s aid. Of late, however, SpaceX has played a major role in launching crew and cargo to the ISS directly from American soil. 

If Russia does pull out of the ISS project in the future, the transition will be expected to take months or years to complete, say experts

Following Rogozin’s tweets, NASA assured the international community that cooperation with Russia on the ISS will continue as usual. Subsequently, Roscosmos also confirmed to media outlets that the space agency will continue ISS support operations as usual. 

The ISS is currently being planned for decommissioning in 2031. 

Launches from French Guiana

French Guiana, located in the northern tip of South America beside Brazil, is an overseas territory of France and holds the European spaceport Guiana Space Center. 

The location is advantageous for launches, as it is close to the equator and is adjacent to the open sea for safety. The site is used by Russian and European launchers and ESA (European Space Agency) to send supplies to the ISS through Russian Soyuz rockets. 

Russia’s pause of launches from here will delay two Galileo navigation satellites that were scheduled to fly in April, as well as two more later in the year. 

France is scheduled to launch its CSO-3 reconnaissance satellite on a Soyuz launcher next year, as are the ESA-Japanese space agency (JAXA) collaboration EarthCARE mission, and ESA’s Euclid infrared space telescope. 

The EU has since said that the Russian decision to halt launches will not impact any of the existing satellite services. 

About the suspension of cooperation with NASA on the Venus exploratory mission Venera-D, Roscosmos said in a tweet quoting Rogozin, “Under the circumstances of new and preservation of the earlier implemented sanctions, I find it inappropriate for the US to further participate in the Russian project of development and creation of the Venera-D interplanetary station.” 

The former Soviet Union played a key role in the exploration of the planet Venus in the ’70s and ’80s, with the first recording of sounds from another planet, first photos from the surface of Venus, and more, from Soviet Venera missions. 

Meanwhile, billionaire Elon Musk has activated the Starlink satellite systems in Ukraine to enable high speed broadband internet access in the country that had been disrupted by the conflict.

(Edited by Saikat Niyogi)


Also read: International Space Station will become a movie set for a week. But what about poop and garbage?


 

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