War in Ukraine: Russia warns of ISS crash

Created: 03/13/2022, 06:54

By: Astrid Theil

The image shows the International Space Station (ISS).

© picture alliance/dpa/NASA

According to the Russian space agency Roskosmos, the International Space Station (ISS) is at risk of crashing because of Western sanctions in the Ukraine war against Russia.

Swjozdny Gorodok - The head of the Russian space agency Roskosmos, Dimitri Rogozin, has warned the West of a crash of the International Space Station ISS*.

Rogozin said via Telegram on Saturday (March 12) that the sanctions imposed on Russia in the Ukraine war* would affect the operation of the Russian spacecraft that supply the ISS.

He was referring primarily to the Russian part of the station, which is responsible for course corrections.

In his opinion, the sanctions could result in the 500-ton space station falling to earth and "into the sea or onto land".

"The Russian segment ensures that the station's orbit is corrected (11 times a year on average), also to avoid space debris," Rogozin explained.

He also publishes a world map that should show where the ISS could crash.

According to the map, Russia is largely safe, while other countries, particularly Western ones, should "think about the price of sanctions against Roscosmos."

Ukraine war: feared ISS crash: Russian space agency appeals to Nasa, CSA and ESA

Space is one of the few remaining areas where Russia and the US still work together.

According to the US space agency Nasa, it is already working on solutions to keep the ISS in orbit without Russian help.

Russia also regularly transports crew members and supplies to the ISS with Soyuz space capsules and Progress space freighters.

Later this month, on March 30, US astronaut Mark Vande Hei and his two Russian colleagues Anton Shkaplerov and Pjotr ​​Dubrov are to be brought back to Earth from the ISS on board a Soyuz space capsule.

According to Rogozin, however, the operation of the launchers is now subject to sanctions by the USA, the EU and Canada.

According to Roskosmos, it has already appealed to its partners to lift the sanctions.

Rogozin said on Telegram that they had been asked to withdraw the "unlawful" punitive measures against Russian companies.

The US space agency Nasa*, the Canadian CSA and the European ESA are said to have received this letter.

Ukraine war: German Aerospace Center breaks off cooperation with Russia

In Russia, several companies important for aerospace are affected by the tightened sanctions in the wake of the invasion of Ukraine.

So far there are no plans as to when the ISS will go out of service.

At the beginning of March, Russia had also declared its cooperation with the German Aerospace Center (DLR) to be over, thus reacting to the cancellation of the cooperation by the German side.

With its move, DLR reacted to the Russian attack on Ukraine and criticized Moscow for it.