In response to Russian cosmonauts’ celebration of the ongoing attack on Ukraine, NASA issued a statement condemning the Russian space agency for engaging in politics aboard the International Space Station.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is causing tension in Russia’s 30-year partnership with the United States for the International Space Station. NASA’s condemnation note states: “NASA strongly opposes Russia’s use of the International Space Station for political purposes to support its war against Ukraine, meaning that the station’s primary function is to develop technology for peaceful purposes and advance science among the 15 international participating nations. It reminds me of it.”
While the statement is not available online, it was released in response to a question by a NASA spokesperson. NASA has not made the condemnation on its official social media channels and website, suggesting that it has a sensitive policy to continue the partnership with Russia.
NASA is clearly trying to continue its ISS partnership with Roscosmos, and while this is the first time NASA has raised its voice against the war in Ukraine, the space agency doesn’t seem to want to broadcast this message to reporters beyond emails.
The statement began to spread just three days after the Russian space agency posted on its official Telegram channel photos of three cosmonauts holding the flags of the Luhansk People’s Republic and Donetsk People’s Republic. Russia has recently announced that it has taken control of these regions. Cosmonauts posted the photo with the message “We celebrate both on Earth and in space.”
Roscosmos director Dmitry Rogozin responded to NASA’s statement: “We will do everything we think is necessary and useful in the Russian segment.”
Rogozin also announced that he was considering withdrawing from the International Space Station to protest the sanctions imposed on Russia by the USA, Canada and the European Union.
Even before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the nature of the partnership between NASA and Roscosmos had already changed. NASA is no longer dependent on Russia’s Soyuz spacecraft to fly its astronauts to the ISS. Private space companies SpaceX and Boeing currently provide regular transportation services. Prior to that, as a result of the retirement of the Space Shuttle program, Russia had a monopoly on manned transportation to the space station. Roscosmos increased the price of a seat on the Soyuz from $21.8 million to $81 million in 2018.
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