Former Roscosmos director general Dmitry Rogozin is known for his provocative comments, including threats of nuclear war and telling the US they would need “broomsticks” to fly to the space station. However, Russia’s space agency and NASA confirmed on Friday that they have now signed an agreement to integrate flights to the International Space Station. The deal will allow Russian cosmonauts to fly in US-built spacecraft in exchange for Americans boarding a Russian Soyuz rocket, starting in September. Former US astronaut Scott Kelly told CBC News it was the “wrong decision”. “I’m not a big fan of the Russians flying an American vehicle right now,” he said. “I wasn’t too happy to see it. I think it sends the wrong message. I think it’s a bad visual.” The International Space Station is photographed by Expedition 66 Roscosmos crew member cosmonaut Pyotr Dubrov from the Soyuz MS-19 spacecraft in this image released April 20. A new deal allowing the Americans to re-enter the Soyuz was struck on Friday. (Pyotr Dubrov/Roscosmos) Kelly has flown Russia’s Soyuz and commanded the ISS on three previous missions. Unless there is no other choice, Kelly said, the US and Russia should not blow up together while Russian forces kill civilians and are under investigation for war crimes in Ukraine. But Kelly said he is happy to see Rogozin step aside as long as he is not placed in an even more powerful role in the Russian government.
No relegation move for Rogozin: Garneau
Member of Parliament and Canada’s first astronaut in space, Marc Garneau, said he understood from media reports that Russian President Vladimir Putin had other plans for Rogozin, one of the president’s allies and a longtime nationalist leader. “It’s less about his performance there and more about Putin wanting to take on a new role,” Garneau told CBC News. Russian state media reports that the country’s former deputy prime minister, Yuri Borisov, is replacing Rogozin. The move is the latest in a series of rare developments since tensions in Ukraine reached new heights as it hit the International Space Station (ISS). US President Joe Biden announced sanctions to “undercut” Russia’s space program on the same day Russian forces invaded Ukraine. Rogozin responded by asking “who will save the ISS from uncontrolled deorbiting and falling to the United States or Europe?”. Since then, Rogozin has unleashed a terrible war of words online and posted a video showing workers covering the flags of international partners with tape on the side of a rocket. In March, Rosmoscos also released a fake video showing Russian cosmonauts abandoning an American astronaut on the space station. Marc Garneau became the first Canadian in space when he flew on a US space shuttle in 1984. Garneau now serves as a Member of Parliament and was a cabinet minister from 2015-2021. (Reuters) Then came a move that enraged the world. Roscosmos posted a pair of photos on social media platform Telegram on July 4 showing a trio of cosmonauts posing with the flags of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic and the Donetsk People’s Republic after Russian-backed separatist forces declared victory in these areas. Historically, the ISS has been a beacon of international cooperation — and a place that is supposed to be free of politics. WATCHES | Countries condemn Russia for war propaganda on the International Space Station:
Russia snubs space station partners over war tensions in Ukraine
Russia is giving its partners on the International Space Station the cold shoulder over tensions caused by the war in Ukraine. Images circulating of Russian cosmonauts holding flags in support of pro-Russian separatists have prompted rare statements from space agencies in Canada, the US and Europe.
Canada rarely issues a statement of conviction
Space agencies in Canada, the US and Europe responded with rare statements of condemnation. The Canadian Space Agency joined NASA a week ago in a rebuke against using the ISS “for political purposes to support the illegal war against Ukraine.” The European Space Agency then went ahead and on Tuesday cut off its cooperation with Russia in connection with the launch of a rover to Mars. Garneau said that if he had been on the space station when the photos of the flags were taken, he would not have been happy. “Using the International Space Station as a vehicle for political purposes is definitely not a good thing,” he said. “You can’t undo it now. It’s done… It’s very sad, because it undermines one area of international cooperation.” Astronaut Scott Kelly, left, and his identical twin, Mark. The pair were separated for nearly a year to test the biological effects of spaceflight on genetic doubles. Scott Kelly was space-bound, while Mark Kelly was earth-bound during the study. (Pat Sullivan/Associated Press) Garneau said he believes the three cosmonauts were “given the marching orders” — probably by Rogozin or higher and “had to do it.” He said Canada should be open to the possibility of Russia abandoning the International Space Station because Moscow is so unpredictable. “I think you always have to keep your eyes open,” Garneau said. “The ball is in Russia’s court… They are the ones who I think are ultimately the only ones who could initiate a separation.”
Sanctions are crushing the organization’s growth, the expert says
Pavel Luzin, a Russian space policy expert, said the ISS can survive without Russia and international partners should cut ties. “Western partners should think seriously about whether or not they want to continue to be partners with Russia.” Russian cosmonauts Denis Matveev, Oleg Artemyev and Sergey Korsakov hold a flag of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic on the International Space Station. (Roscosmos/Telegram) NASA wants to keep the space station operational until 2030, but Russia has so far only committed to 2024. Jill Stewart is an academic at the London School of Economics, specializing in the politics, ethics and laws of space exploration. He said all countries use space activity to some extent to promote propaganda and nationalism, but Russia is using the space station to try to change the narrative. “They’re trying to control and push the limits of what partners on the International Space Station are willing to tolerate,” he said. Russia has been one of the biggest partners in the space station for the past three decades. For much of that time, buying a seat on Russia’s Soyuz rocket was one of the only ways up, now costing up to $90 million per seat. But that’s changing with Elon Musk’s SpaceX launch in the US The three Russian cosmonauts involved in the campaign arrived alone at the ISS in March, marking the first time in 22 years that a single Russian crew flew to the ISS without astronauts from other countries. NASA says the new agreement to integrate spaceflight “ensures that there are appropriately trained crew members on the station for basic maintenance and spacewalks.”
