NASA dismisses Russian space agency chief’s ISS warning after US sanctions

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) on Friday shrugged off warnings by Russian space agency Roscosmos chief regarding the potential ‘destruction’ of cooperation between the United States and Russia on the International Space Station (ISS).

Dmitry Rogozin of Roscosmos had said on Thursday that the sanctions imposed by the US in retaliation to Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine will ‘destroy cooperation’ on the ISS between the two countries.

“If you block cooperation with us, who will save the ISS from an uncontrolled deorbit and fall into the United States or Europe?” Rogozin said in a Twitter post, soon after the US announced new sanctions.

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“There is also the option of dropping a 500-tonne structure to India or 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?” he said in another tweet.

However, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) released a statement Friday clarifying that the new sanctions won’t endanger the space cooperation between the two countries, according to a report by news agency Reuters.

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“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,” the space agency said.

While sharing a news article about the NASA statement, Rogozin called it ‘diplomatic’. He said that Moscow was analysing the new US sanctions before giving a detailed response. 

NASA and Roscosmos had earlier this week said that they were working towards a ‘crew exchange’ deal under which the two would share flights to ISS on each other’s spacecraft free of cost, reported Reuters. 

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The International Space Station is a large spacecraft that astronauts have lived in since the year 2000. It is presently home to four NASA, one European, and two Russian astronauts. It is orbiting around 400 km above Earth.