On March 12, Roscosmos demanded that its partners in the ISS lift sanctions from the Russian space enterprises TsNIIMash and RCC Progress, adding that the fate of the International Space Station would directly depend on this. Written appeals were sent to the leadership of NASA, the Canadian Space Agency (Canadian Space Agency, CSA) and the European Space Agency (European Space Agency, ESA). March 31 was the last day when the partners were supposed to respond to these demands, but no response was received, the sanctions were never lifted.

As the head of the press service of Roscosmos Dmitry Strugovets said: “Dmitry Rogozin, Director General of the state corporation Roscosmos, will make an official statement on April 2 (Saturday) regarding the Russian position on continuing cooperation with foreign countries within the framework of the ISS project.”

A week ago, the head of NASA, Bill Nelson, assured that the professional relationship between Roscosmos and the US space agency on the ISS will continue without changes. All US and Russian staff remain in place both at the space station and at mission control centers in Houston and Moscow. NASA has been adhering to the same position since February 25, 2022, periodically reminding the press that no one plans to break off cooperation with the Russian Federation on the ISS at the moment.

In turn, the European side (ESA, European Space Agency) announced the termination of cooperation with Roscosmos, since ESA makes decisions based not only on the interests of people working on scientific programs, but also on European values ​​that determined the approach to international cooperation. The agency fully supported the sanctions imposed against the Russian Federation, as a result of which cooperation on ExoMars and other joint projects was terminated.

bbabo.Net