Russia warns US against sanctions on space cooperation; 'Option of ISS dropping on India'

Following the set of sanctions imposed by the United States on Russia threatening its technological export among others, has led to a new round of debate between the Russian space agency and NASA.

Speaking on it, the head of the Russian space agency Roscosmos has stated that the sanctions announced by the US government have the potential to destroy Russia's cooperation on the International Space Station (ISS) as Russia continues to remain a key collaborator in the station along with USA's NASA and the European Space Agency. 

This came after US President Joe Biden in his February 24 speech claimed that these sanctions will degrade the space industry of Russia including their space program as he aims to cut off Russia's access to cutting technology. Responding to it, Dmitry Rogozin, the head of the Russian space agency, took to Twitter and questioned if the United States wants to block the Russian cooperation on the ISS.

In a tweet, he said, "If you block cooperation with us who will save the ISS from an uncontrolled deorbit and from falling into the United States and Europe."

Adding more to it, he also said that there is another chance of dropping a 500-tonne structure on India or China and asked, "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?"

NASA refutes endangerment to space cooperation between US and Russia

However, in a response to this, the American space agency NASA refuted such speculations and said that the sanctions would not affect the cooperation between both countries. In a statement, it said, 

NASA continues working with all our international partners, including the State Space Corporation Roscosmos, for the ongoing safe operations of the International Space Station. The new export control measures will continue to allow US-Russia civil space cooperation. No changes are planned to the agency's support for ongoing in orbit and ground station operations.

Following this, Rogozin in another tweet said that NASA has confirmed it and thus Russia will analyse the new US sanctions before detailing its response.

It said, "As diplomats say, 'our concerns have been heard'. NASA has confirmed its willingness to continue to cooperate with Roscosmos through #МКС. In the meantime, we continue to analyze the new US sanctions to detail our response."

Image: AP