{"id":10660,"date":"2022-02-24T20:43:11","date_gmt":"2022-02-24T12:43:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/biden-announces-sanctions-targeting-russias-space-program\/"},"modified":"2022-02-24T20:43:11","modified_gmt":"2022-02-24T12:43:11","slug":"biden-announces-sanctions-targeting-russias-space-program","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/biden-announces-sanctions-targeting-russias-space-program\/","title":{"rendered":"Biden announces sanctions targeting Russia\u2019s space program"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
President Biden announced new sanctions against Russia on Thursday afternoon. Credit: White House<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

President Biden said Thursday the United States is imposing new sanctions against Russia, including measures that will \u201cdegrade\u201d the country\u2019s space program, in response to Russian military attacks on Ukraine.<\/p>\n

So far, operations and training for future missions on the International Space Station are proceeding without interruption, according to NASA. The space station, an investment of more than $100 billion in U.S. taxpayer funding, has been continuously staffed by U.S. and Russian crew members since 2000.<\/p>\n

NASA said in a statement that the new export control measures against Russia announced Thursday \u201cwill continue to allow U.S.-Russia civil space cooperation.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo changes are planned to the agency\u2019s support for ongoing in orbit and ground station operations,\u201d NASA said.<\/p>\n

Relations between the United States and Russia have frayed since the dawn of the space station program. But the space station remains one of the most significant geopolitical partnerships left between the two countries.<\/p>\n

Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine Thursday could threaten the long-term future of the partnership.<\/p>\n

Biden himself singled out Russia\u2019s space program in a speech Thursday, alongside other sectors of the Russian economy targeted by new sanctions. Biden said the measures will have \u201csevere costs\u201d on the Russian economy and are \u201cpurposely designed\u201d to maximize long-term impacts on Russia.<\/p>\n

\u201cBetween our actions and those of our allies and partners, we estimate that we\u2019ll cut off more than half of Russia\u2019s high tech imports and will strike a blow to their ability to continue to modernize their military,\u201d Biden said. \u201cIt\u2019ll degrade their aerospace industry, including their space program.\u201d<\/p>\n

Biden said the sanctions also targeted Russia\u2019s military, maritime industry, financial institutions and Russian citizens close to Russian President Vladimir Putin.<\/p>\n

The sanctions, in sum, will be a \u201cmajor hit to Putin\u2019s long term strategic ambitions, and we\u2019re preparing to do more,\u201d Biden said.<\/p>\n

A White House fact sheet on the new sanctions does not explicitly mention Russia\u2019s space program, but discusses a ban on exports on \u201csensitive technology\u201d to Russia\u2019s defense, aviation, and maritime sectors.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis includes Russia-wide restrictions on semiconductors, telecommunication, encryption security, lasers, sensors, navigation, avionics and maritime technologies,\u201d the White House said.<\/p>\n

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who also announced his country was introducing new sanctions against Russia, was asked about the International Space Station program Thursday in the House of Commons.<\/p>\n

He said he has been in favor of continuing \u201cartistic and scientific collaboration\u201d with Russia. \u201cBut in the current circumstances, it\u2019s hard to see how even those can continue as normal,\u201d Johnson said.<\/p>\n

\"\"
An astronaut departing the International Space Station on SpaceX\u2019s Crew Dragon Endeavour spacecraft took this picture of the orbiting outpost in November 2021. Credit: NASA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Dmitry Rogozin, head of Russia\u2019s space agency Roscosmos, tweeted a series of messages Thursday shortly after Biden\u2019s remarks, but before NASA\u2019s clarification that the new sanctions won\u2019t impact civilian cooperation in space.<\/p>\n

\u201cBiden said the new sanctions would affect the Russian space program,\u201d Rogozin tweeted, according to an online translator. \u201cOK. It remains to find out the details: 1. Do you want to block our access to radiation-resistant space microelectronics? So you already did it quite officially in 2014.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rogozin was apparently referring to sanctions introduced by the Obama administration after Russia\u2019s annexation of Crimea in 2014.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs you noticed, we, nevertheless, continue to make our own spacecraft,\u201d Rogozin added. \u201cAnd we will do them by expanding the production of the necessary components and devices at home.<\/p>\n

\u201c2. Do you want to ban all countries from launching their spacecraft on the most reliable Russian rockets in the world? This is how you are already doing it and are planning to finally destroy the world market of space competition from January 1, 2023, by imposing sanctions on our launch vehicles. We are aware. This is also not news. We are ready to act here, too.<\/p>\n

\u201c3. Do you want to destroy our cooperation on the ISS? This is how you already do it by limiting exchanges between our cosmonaut and astronaut training centers. Or do you want to manage the ISS yourself? Maybe President Biden is off topic, so explain to him that the correction of the station\u2019s orbit, its avoidance of dangerous rendezvous with space garbage, with which your talented businessmen have polluted the near-Earth orbit, is produced exclusively by the engines of the Russian Progress MS cargo ships.\u201d<\/p>\n

In this tweet, Rogozin\u2019s reference to \u201cspace garbage\u201d seems to be aimed at SpaceX\u2019s Starlink internet network. More than 2,100 Starlink satellites have launched to date for the global internet network run by Elon Musk\u2019s space company, making Starlink the largest fleet of spacecraft ever put into orbit.<\/p>\n

SpaceX\u2019s Starlink network, along with other commercial satellite \u201cmega-constellations\u201d have been criticized before. Rogozin didn\u2019t mention a Russian anti-satellite missile test last year that added thousands of pieces of space junk to busy orbital traffic lanes a few hundred miles above Earth.<\/p>\n

\"\"
NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei and Russian commander Anton Shkaplerov, seen here, are scheduled to return to Earth on a Russian Soyuz spacecraft March 30. Russian cosmonaut Pyotr Dubrov will return to Earth with them. Credit: NASA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

NASA and Roscosmos are the two largest partners on the International Space Station, which could not easily operate without critical contributions from U.S. and Russian modules. The U.S. segment of the station generates the bulk of the lab\u2019s electrical power and maintains the pointing of the complex in orbit.<\/p>\n

Russia\u2019s modules and Progress supply ships are the primary source of propulsion, maintaining the lab\u2019s altitude and occasionally steering the space station out of the way of space debris. Russia is also planning to oversee the de-orbiting and disposal of the huge station \u2014 the largest spacecraft ever put into orbit \u2014 into the unpopulated ocean at the end of its service life, currently expected around 2030.<\/p>\n

A Northrop Grumman Cygnus cargo freighter that arrived at the space station Monday will debut a new U.S. capability to reboost the orbit of the complex. But the Cygnus spacecraft is not intended to maneuver the space station away from space junk, or make major orbit adjustments.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you block cooperation with us, who will save the ISS from an uncontrolled deorbit and fall into the United States or Europe? There is also the option of dropping a 500-ton structure to India and China. Do you want to threaten them with such a prospect? The ISS does not fly over Russia, so all the risks are yours,\u201d Rogozon tweeted Thursday. \u201cAre you ready for them? Gentlemen, when planning sanctions, check those who generate them for illness Alzheimer\u2019s. Just in case. To prevent your sanctions from falling on your head. And not only in a figurative sense.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTherefore, for the time being, as a partner, I suggest that you do not behave like an irresponsible gamer, disavow the statement about \u2018Alzheimer\u2019s sanctions.\u2019 Friendly advice.\u201d<\/p>\n

Early Friday, after NASA signaled its intention to continue with Russia on the space station program, Rogozin tweeted: \u201cAs diplomats say, \u2018our concerns have been heard.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNASA confirmed its willingness to continue to cooperate with Roscosmos through ISS,\u201d Rogozin tweeted.  \u201cIn the meantime, we continue to analyze the new U.S. sanctions to detail our response.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rogozin\u2019s aggressive and sarcastic tone is nothing new.<\/p>\n

In 2014, in the wake of sanctions levied following Russia\u2019s earlier incursion into Ukraine, Rogozin ridiculed claims that he personally profited from Russia\u2019s space industry. Rogozin was placed on the U.S. sanctions list at the time, when was a Russian deputy prime minister overseeing the country\u2019s defense and aerospace industries.<\/p>\n

The annexation of Crimea in 2014 helped trigger a review of the the U.S. space industry\u2019s use of Russian components.<\/p>\n

The crisis hastened a move away from the U.S. military\u2019s use of United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rockets, which are powered by Russian RD-180 main engines. ULA is retiring the Atlas 5 and is developing a replacement rocket, Vulcan Centaur, with U.S.-made engines produced by Blue Origin, Jeff Bezos\u2019s space company.<\/p>\n

NASA was already working with SpaceX and Boeing on new human-rated crew ferry capsules.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter analyzing the sanctions against our space industry, I suggest the U.S. delivers its astronauts to the ISS with a trampoline,\u201d Rogozin tweeted in 2014.<\/p>\n

Rogozin was referring to NASA\u2019s use of Russian Soyuz spacecraft to ferry U.S. and allied astronauts to and from the International Space Station. During a gap on U.S. human spaceflight capability following the retirement of the space shuttle, NASA purchased seats on Soyuz crew capsules to transport astronauts until SpaceX\u2019s Crew Dragon spaceship began launching crews to the station in 2020.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe trampoline is working!\u201d Musk joked after SpaceX\u2019s first crew launch.<\/p>\n

With SpaceX\u2019s crew transportation capability now operational, and a Boeing crew capsule in testing, NASA is less reliant on Russia\u2019s space program than it was in 2014, but is not entirely free of Russian influence.<\/p>\n

NASA said in a statement Thursday that it continues working with international partners, including Russia, \u201cto maintain safe and continuous International Space Station operations.\u201d<\/p>\n

A crew of seven is currently living and working on the station \u2014 four U.S. astronauts, two Russian cosmonauts, and a European Space Agency flight engineer.<\/p>\n

A team of three Russian cosmonauts is scheduled to launch to the space station March 18 on a Soyuz rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. They will replace NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei, current station commander Anton Shkaplerov, and cosmonaut Pyotr Dubrov scheduled to return to Earth on a different Russian Soyuz spacecraft March 30.<\/p>\n

Vande Hei and Dubrov will close out a 355-day mission on the space station, a record for a single spaceflight by a U.S. astronaut.<\/p>\n

Training continues for future space station expeditions, NASA said.<\/p>\n

\u201cTwo NASA astronauts completed training in Russia earlier in February prior to returning home,\u201d the agency said in a statement. \u201cAs scheduled, there are three cosmonauts currently training at NASA\u2019s Johnson Space Center in Houston for space station missions.\u201d<\/p>\n

David Burbach, a professor of national security affairs at the U.S. Naval War College, said near-term ISS operations are not likely to be impacted by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe station is so interconnected, the two countries so interdependent, there\u2019s not much middle ground between cooperating or irreversibly abandoning ISS (and as Roscosmos head Dmitiry Rogozin tweeted today, then the 500 ton station reentering uncontrolled),\u201d Burbach wrote in an email to Spaceflight Now.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m sure the U.S. doesn\u2019t want that, and I don\u2019t think Putin wants it,\u201d Burbach wrote, noting he was commenting on a personal basis, and not on behalf of the Navy. \u201cThat said, Putin is not much worried about international prestige, and Russia\u2019s human spaceflight program does not pay off in prestige or in cash the way it used to. I suspect ISS is less\u200b important to Russia today than Americans are used to thinking, but still somewhat important.\u201d<\/p>\n

But the deterioration in U.S.-Russia relations could drive the countries\u2019 space programs apart over time, and make the start of future cooperative projects unlikely, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cLonger term, this change in relations makes it somewhat more likely that ISS is terminated sooner than 2030, and I\u2019m sure will raise interest in the U.S. in encouraging the development of commercial stations,\u201d Burbach wrote.<\/p>\n

\u201cSanctions and the break in relations are likely to impact commercial and scientific engagement with Russia,\u201d he wrote. \u201cI can\u2019t imagine ESA or NASA agreeing to new joint projects with Roscosmos anytime soon. Russia was already a declining presence in the commercial launch market, and whether due to sanctions or avoiding political risk, it\u2019s unlikely they\u2019ll get new business from Western companies.\u201d<\/p>\n

Email the author.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Follow Stephen Clark on Twitter: @StephenClark1.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

President Biden announced new sanctions against Russia on Thursday afternoon. Credit: White House President Biden said Thursday the United States is imposing new sanctions against Russia, including measures that will \u201cdegrade\u201d the country\u2019s space program, in response to Russian military attacks on Ukraine. So far, operations and training for future missions on the International Space […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10660","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10660"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10660"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10660\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10660"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10660"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10660"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}