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Six months after Ukrainian invasion, effects continue to echo
On the six-month anniversary of Russia’s unsanctioned invasion of Ukraine that started Feb. 22, the effects are severely felt in Ukraine.
The Ukrainian government will have more imagery access from Finnish company ICEYE’s constellation of synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellites along with dedicated satellite service, thanks to a new deal between ICEYE and the Serhiy Prytula Charity Foundation. “This agreement is a significant step in responding to the government of Ukraine’s urgent request for critical Earth observation data, and it will greatly benefit our armed forces,” Serhiy Prytula said in a statement (opens in new tab).
Earlier this month, satellite images unveiled a great deal of damage at Russia’s Saki Air Base on Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula, which is currently occupied by Russian military forces. A series of explosions blasted aside the airfield on Tuesday (Aug. 9), as seen in footage captured on camera (opens in new tab). There are different reports about who caused the damage amid the ongoing skirmish in the region.
NASA’s ISS extension to 2030 signed into law, awaits partner approval
President Joe Biden signed the Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors (CHIPS) Act into law Tuesday (Aug. 9), which includes approval of NASA’s participation in the International Space Station (ISS) program through September 2030, an extension of six years.
Biden’s signature brings NASA’s agreement to extend until 2030, but the other ISS partners — the space agencies of Canada, Japan, Europe and Russia — must agree as well.
Many of Russia’s space partnerships have fallen apart after its invasion of Ukraine. In recent weeks, Russian officials said they plan to exit the ISS program when their own, independent station is ready to go. (They don’t expect that station to be ready until 2028 at the earliest.)
Read more: President Biden signs CHIPS Act, approving International Space Station extension to 2030
New spy satellite for Iran may be used for Ukraine invasion: report
A spy satellite for Iran lifted off Tuesday (Aug. 9) at 1: 52 a.m. EDT (0552 GMT) from the Russia-run Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
Khayyam, which the mission is called, is a Russian-built Kanopus-V Earth-observation satellite. Its resolution allows for imaging of things as small as 3.9 feet (1.2 meters) across, The Washington Post (opens in new tab) reported last week.
Russia, however, intends to use Khayyam “for several months, or longer, to enhance its surveillance of military targets” for its ongoing invasion of Ukraine, according to The Washington Post’s story. The report cited anonymous Western security officials.
Iran’s state-run official IRNA news agency denied the claim, saying that the country will have full control “from day one”, Reuters (opens in new tab) stated.
Full story: Russia launches sharp-eyed spy satellite for Iran
ExoMars mission still vital despite delays: scientists
While the European Space Agency works to determine the future of the ExoMars mission, scientists are urging the agency to move forward even after the collaboration with Russia’s federal space agency broke apart and forced changes.
“[The rover’s instruments] are going to get a bit old,” John Bridges, a professor of planetary science at Leicester University in the U.K., told Space.com. “But as long as the maintenance can be done, it doesn’t actually bother me too much that we’re not using the most cutting-edge technology. Even if we’re going by bicycle rather than by the newest car, it doesn’t really matter, as long as we get there.”
The most optimistic estimates see the ExoMars rover leaving Earth in 2028, years past its original launch date.
Read more: Europe’s troubled Mars rover still vital in the search for life on the Red Planet
NASA, Russia say space station withdrawal will be gradual
NASA and Russia’s federal space agency Roscosmos emphasized they plan a gradual change in International Space Station operations Thursday (Aug. 4).
Officials from both agencies spoke about Russia’s announcement in July that it will leave the ISS partnership after 2024, which the country has clarified to say that will mean in a gradual and staged fashion. The goal is to put the resources Russia dedicates to the ISS into a new Russian space station later in the 2020s.
“We are looking into projects for the new station, but for now, we are working on extending the [ISS] operation, and we don’t know for how long it is yet,” Sergei Krikalev, the Roscosmos executive director of human spaceflight programs, said during a Crew-5 briefing in Russian; his comments were interpreted on-site into English.
“When there is a technical reason to terminate … we will of course, coordinate with our partners for our interface procedures, to make this as seamless as possible for all program participants,” Krikalev added.
NASA noted that the U.S. government still plans to extend ISS operations to 2030 (legislation on that is pending a presidential signature) and that negotiations with other space station partners are ongoing to keep other agencies in the agreement.
Read more in our coverage of yesterday’s briefing.
Russia announces plans to build own space station
Russia has announced it will withdraw from the International Space Station coalition after 2024 to create a new space station, which may be up and running by the end of the decade.
The timing of that move is uncertain, but Russia wants it to coincide with the arrival of a planned Russian Orbital Service Station (ROSS).
“We need to decide what to do in the future, and already begin work on manned programs that will be implemented after this period,” Roscosmos senior official Vladimir Solovyov said in a lengthy interview (opens in new tab) published on Tuesday (July 26) by the Russian federal space agency, which discussed ROSS in detail.
The first phase of the outpost’s assembly, targeted to begin in 2028, appears to include a core module, a possible new supply ship and a new transport vehicle. A second phase, penciled in for 2030, would add two more large modules.
When asked how the ISS withdrawal might be related to Ukraine’s invasion, which has been condemned by the other major station partners, space historian John Logsdon said the withdrawal is “just one more step in relation to a fraught relationship. Of course,” he continued, the Ukraine invasion “doesn’t help.”
While Dmitry Rogozin, director general of Roscosmos, was abruptly replaced with Yuri Borisov earlier in the month, NASA has emphasized daily ISS operations are largely unaffected. (This despite anti-Ukraine propaganda recently being flown by Russian cosmonauts.)
As an example, agency officials have cited a recent seat swap agreement that will see the first Russian cosmonaut fly on a U.S. commercial spacecraft, in exchange for NASA Soyuz opportunities.
Read more: Russia wants to build its own space station, as early as 2028
Russia launches 1st ISS cargo ship since invasion
Russia on Friday (June 3) launched its first resupply mission to the International Space Station since the country invaded Ukraine, despite repeated claims that its space agency Roscosmos was planning to leave the space station partnership, which is a collaboration of five national space agencies and 15 different countries.
The uncrewed Progress 81 cargo ship lifted off from Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan at 5: 32 a.m. EDT (0932 GMT) and will dock at the space station less than four hours later. It is delivering nearly 3 tons of supplies to the station.
NASA officials have repeatedly stated that the International Space Station program is continuing as expected, with Friday’s Progress 81 launch the latest example of steady and ongoing operations by Russia and all program partners. NASA did carry the launch live on NASA TV.
“NASA TV provides operational cover of all International Space Station launches in order to provide transparency and allow mission support personnel to maintain situational awareness necessary for safe and sustained operation of the International Space Station,” NASA spokesperson Sandra Jones said during live commentary.
Here’s a look at other space industry news from Ukraine:
- Scientists with the European Space Agency are worried about their ExoMars rover mission after losing their launch opportunity on a Russian rocket, another consequence of the ongoing war in Ukraine. They are hoping to secure another rocket ride and new landing platform to salvage what was once an ESA-Russia collaboration.
- NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei and ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer, who returned to Earth from the station in March and May, respectively, have recently spoken out on their thoughts of Russia’s war on Ukraine and how it impacted life on the space station amongst crews that included Russian cosmonauts. ‘At the beginning of the war, the whole country went dark at night.’ Vande Hei said.
- Earlier in May, satellites in orbit spotted a sunken Russian ship off the coast of Snake Island in Ukraine.
Elon Musk: Russia cyberattacks on Starlink increasing
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said this week that Russia is increasing its cyberattacks on Starlink terminals in Ukraine.
“Starlink has resisted Russian cyberwar jamming & hacking attempts so far, but they’re ramping up their efforts,” Musk wrote (opens in new tab) on Twitter Tuesday (May 10).
Musk and SpaceX have sent more than 5,000 Starlink terminals to Ukraine with the help of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to help the country stay online and maintain communications amid Russia’s ongoing invasion.
When Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, the country reportedly executed a cyberattack that pulled tens of thousands of modems offline, according to a Reuters report (opens in new tab).
Space Industry for Ukraine group pledges humanitarian aid
In other space news from Ukraine, a new Space Industry for Ukraine group has formed to build support for the besieged nation.
The group includes 18 different space companies, including Rocket Lab, BlackSky, Maxar and others, that have pledged to contribute at least $50,000 each and other services to assist in humanitarian aid work for Ukraine.
“While space-based companies are playing a vital role through collecting and analyzing data of a defense and intelligence nature, we believe there is additional humanitarian value that our space community can provide in supporting the people and government of Ukraine,” said John Serafini, CEO of the geospatial analytics company HawkEye 360, said in a statement (opens in new tab) on April 26.
Europe’s ExoMars rover won’t launch until 2028 now
The European Space Agency’s life-hunting ExoMars rover is now unlikely to launch before 2028 due to a shutdown of space cooperation with Russia over that country’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
ESA’s ExoMars rover was scheduled to launch to Mars later this year on a Russian Proton rocket. But European sanctions against Russia led the country to cut access to its rockets to Europe, with ESA also ceasing non-space station cooperation with Russia as well.
Russia’s space agency was due to provide the lander for the ExoMars rover, which will now have to be sourced elsewhere and likely redesigned for launch on a different rocket, ESA officials have said. Those challenges make it unlikely for the mission team to launch ExoMars during windows in 2024 and 2026.
Meanwhile, here’s more space industry news from Russia’s war on Ukraine:
- Mass grave near besieged Ukrainian city Mariupol spotted from space (satellite photos)
- Ukrainian moon start-up volunteers tech for military use
The Ukrainian space sector has shifted to help fight the Russian invasion
For many in Ukraine’s vibrant space sector, life as they knew it stopped on Feb. 24 when Russian tanks rolled into their country. Their aspirations had to be put on hold, their skills and resources redirected to serve their besieged homeland. Among the companies that had to adjust their plans is Kyiv-based startup Lunar Research Service. When the war started, the company was about to ship their first batch of nanosatellites to its Kickstarter backers. But instead, the satellites were taken apart and their components handed over to the military for use in communication equipment and drones.
The company’s 3D printers received new orders. Instead of satellite parts, they are now churning out bits for gun upgrades. Several of the company’s staff members joined Territorial Defense and Cyber Forces.
“Our CAD [Computer-Aided Design] modeling engineer Taras Moshchanskyi sits in the trench with a gun, a Vernier caliper [a tool for precise measurements], and a laptop,” the company’s chief technology officer Dmytro Khmara told Space.com. “In between rotations, he models upgrades for old Soviet AK-74 [assault rifles], which we are printing on our 3D printers.”
Also in Kyiv, aerospace PhD student Ihor suspended his studies at Ukraine’s prestigious Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute to volunteer his skills to keep military technology in shape.
“When martial law came into force last month, I was not drafted in the army since I have no military experience,” Ihor told Space.com. “But some of my acquaintances were taken to the army and said that they had big problems with various types of equipment and that there were no people that could fix it. So they recommended me and some of my colleagues to do such repairs.”
Europe halts moon exploration with Russa
The European Space Agency has decided to halt cooperation on moon missions with Russia due to that country’s ongoing war on Ukraine.
ESA officials announced the decision on Wednesday (April 13) after a meeting of its member countries. The decision means a European camera experiment called Pilot D will not fly on Russia’s planned Lunar 25 moon lander, which was to launch later this year.
Europe will also pull out of collaborations on Russia’s planned Lunar 26 lander and the Lunar 27 moon rover, which was expected to use a European-built navigation system and subsurface drill.
Europe is also looking for ways to replace the Ukrainian-built rocket engines used on its Vega rocket amid fears that their manufacturer Yuzhmash in Dnipro, Ukraine, may be unable to to continue to supply the engines.
“We now have sufficient engines for 2022 and 2023,” ESA’s director general Josef Aschbacher said. “We are working on options for 2024 and onwards based on different technologies.”
Meanwhile, there have been other space industry develops from Russia’s war on Ukraine this week.
New satellite photos of Russian military buildup
Satellite imagery provider Maxar has released a new set of images of Ukraine, showing a buildup of Russian military forces in eastern and southern Ukraine.
The images show Russian troop movements along the eastern border of Ukraine, as well as long convoys of military vehicles traversing across the region.
“Together, the convoys contain more than 200 vehicles and include tanks, armored personnel carriers, towed artillery and support equipment,” Maxar representatives said in an emailed statement describing the newly released photos.
How Russia’s GPS satellite jamming works
This week, U.S. Space Force officials revealed that Russia is jamming U.S. GPS signals in Ukraine to diminish the country’s navigation and mapping capabilities.
Russia uses jamming systems based on large trucks and its use in Ukraine now is no surprise. The country has been using similar systems in parts of Ukraine since 2014, as well as during U.S. and NATO exercises.
“We’ve seen them being used while the U.S. and allies of NATO [North Atlantic Treaty Organization] do military exercises up in the north of Norway. Russia will use jamming to interfere with our military exercises, as the northern part of Russia is right there,” Kaitlyn Johnson, deputy director and fellow of the Aerospace Security Project at CSIS, told Space.com in an interview on how Russia’s GPS jamming works.
Ukrainian startup Promin Aerospace’s ‘self-devouring’ rocket
Even as Russia’s war on Ukraine continues, the beseiged country’s space industry is still hard at work.
The space startup Promin Aerospace is continuing its work to develop a new “self-devouring” rocket engine for a planned launch vehicle. The engine is an autophagic design, in which the rocket’s hull is made of solid propellant so that the rocket will consume itself as it launches.
“It is incredibly important for companies with high-tech developments to continue their work during the war,” said Volodymyr Taftay, the head of the State Space Agency of Ukraine. “They are the future of our country and now support its economic front.”
Former astronaut launches NFT to raise funds for Ukraine
Former NASA astronaut Scott Kelly, who spent nearly a year on the International Space Station in 2015 and 2016, launched an NFT today to raise funds to support Ukraine.
Kelly released the NFT, his first, as part of an art project he calls “Dreams Out Of This World,” which features images inspired by his spaceflight drawn as postcards for people to buy. The net proceeds from the sale will go to a nonprofit group Global Empowerment Mission (opens in new tab) aiding Ukraine against Russia’s ongoing invasion.
“I think the metaverse and crypto[currency] and blockchain will be a big part of our future,” Kelly told Space.com. “So it seemed like the right time for me to get involved.”
Kelly has been outspoken against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine since the war began in February. He traded stinging words with Russia’s space agency chief Dmitry Rogozin during that time and also announced he’d give back a Russian spaceflight medal he received for his nearly yearlong mission.
Russia’s space legacy amid war
One side note: Kelly made his NFT announcement today, April 12, which is also known as the International Day of Human Spaceflight. That’s because on this day in 1961, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin launched into space on the Vostok 1 mission and return to Earth. It was the first human spaceflight. Twenty years later, NASA would launch its first crewed space shuttle Columbia on the same day, making it a day of space anniversaries.
Russia’s legacy in human spaceflight is filled with firsts: Gagarin’s first human spaceflight, the first spacewalk by Alexei Leonov and the first woman in space, Valentina Tereshkova. Russia also built the first space stations in the form of its Salyut spacecraft.
Russia’s ongoing invasion into Ukraine has muted some celebrations of the country’s space feats, but others have found ways to celebrate despite the war by separating the spirit of space exploration from the country’s current actions on Earth.
Russia jamming GPS signals in Ukraine
The U.S. Space Force said Monday (April 11) that Russia is jamming U.S. GPS signals in Ukraine.
Gen. David Thompson, Space Force Vice Chief of Space Operations, told NBC Nightly News that the Ukraine’s ability to use U.S. GPS systems for navigation and mapping are being blocked by Russian jamming efforts.
“Ukraine may not be able to use GPS because there are jammers around that prevent them from receiving any usable signal,” he told NBC Nightly News (opens in new tab).
Thompson said Russia is targeting the American-built Navstar system, which is made available to many countries around the world. Russia has its own GPS system called GLONASS, while Europe uses its own Galileo system and China relies on its own Beidou satellite navigation.
Mass grave in Ukraine spotted by satellite
Maxar Technologies’ WorldView-3 satellite has captured imagery of a mass grave in Bucha, a suburb of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv. The spacecraft snapped a photo showing the grave, with a 45-foot (14 meters) trench, on March 31, 2022. It also took a photo of the area on March 10, which showed what appeared to be the initial excavation of the makeshift grave.
The mass grave, on the grounds of the Church of St. Andrew and Pyervozvannoho All Saints, may contain several hundred bodies, CNN has reported (opens in new tab). Read our story here.
Russian space chief again threatens to pull out of ISS
Dmitry Rogozin, the chief of Roscosmos, Russia’s space program, is again threatening to pull Russia out of the International Space Station program over sanctions imposed against the country over its invasion of Ukraine.
In a series of Twitter posts on Saturday (April 2), Rogozin complained that the sanctions against Russia designed to punish the country for its brutal war on Ukraine are designed to “kill the Russian economy.”
“I believe that the restoration of normal relations between partners in the International Space Station and other joint projects is possible only with the complete and unconditional lifting of illegal sanctions,” he added in another tweet (opens in new tab).
Rogozin is known for his bluster and while he has threatened repeatedly to end Russia’s involvement in the International Space Station, cooperation between Russia and the ISS partners has continued unchanged for the most part.
In other space impact news on Russia’s war on Ukraine, several companies have been keeping close watch on the war using satellites from space.
You can see the latest satellite photos of Ukraine from space in our gallery.
Space tourist takes Ukranian flag to space
A space tourist who launched off the Earth on a Blue Origin rocket on Thursday (March 31) took a small Ukrainian flag to space with him to show support for Ukraine as fights off an invasion by Russia.
Jim Kitchen, a faculty member of the University of North Carolina’s Kenan-Flagler Business School and entrepreneur, launched on a suborbital flight on Blue Origin’s NS-20 New Shepard mission alongside five other passengers. Kitchen, a world traveler, took the small Ukrainian flag and the passport he used to visit the country as part of the flight.
“So in my passport, I brought both the Ukrainian and American flags, and I released them, just paying my respects to the situation that’s occurring there now and just to let them know that our hearts collectively are with them,” Kitchen told Space.com during a call with reporters after Thursday’s flight.
Here’s other space impacts from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine this week:
- Satellite images are capturing more stark images of the devastation in Mariupol, where Russia continues a brutal bombing and siege campaign. The latest images from Maxar show thousands of people trapped in Mariupol waiting in line for food.
- Some volunteers with Ukraine’s military are drawing on their space expertise to help as best they can. That’s the story for Ukrainian aerospace Ph.D. student Ihor, who was studying at Ukraine’s top technology university, the Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute, before the invasion. Now, Ihor is using the skills he learned to aid Ukraine’s military by fixing diesel generators and power stations for vital communications systems.
Ukraine’s space program under E.U.?
As Ukraine’s military battles to defend the country against Russia’s invasion, the country is seeking entry into the European Union, a move that could potentially provide a boost for the country’s space industry.
In an Op-Ed on Space.com today, space reporter Olga Ozhogina with the Ukrainian space startup Promin Aerospace discusses how Ukraine’s space industry could benefit from membership in the E.U.
“As members of the EU, Ukrainians will have the chance to receive grant funding for space projects. European companies will be able to hire Ukrainian workers without bureaucratic obstacles and vice versa, and conduct joint training,” Ozhogina writes.
In related Russia-Ukraine news, here’s the latest that’s occurred in recent days:
- Russia’s brutal bombardment of Mariupol, Ukraine is clearly visible in new satellite photos from Maxar and Planet.
- Russia has launched a new military satellite from the country’s Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northwestern Russia. The Meridian-M satellite, a military communications craft, launched on a Soyuz rocket.
6 European space missions need rocket rides
The European Space Agency is scrambling to find rocket rides for at least five new space missions through 2023 after Russia halted all Soyuz rocket flights for Europe in response to severe economic sanctions over the country’s brutal war on Ukraine. Senior Writer Tereza Pultarova has the full story here.
Two of Europe’s Galileo navigation satellites, the Earthcare Earth monitoring satellite, a dark energy detector called Euclid and a French national satellite. A Russian Proton rocket was also scheduled to launch ESA’s ExoMars rover in September. That mission is also off the table after plans for a September 2022 launch evaporated as Russia-Europe space cooperation broke down. The mission is now being evaluated for a 2024 launch (after missing its 2020 launch due to parachute issues) and may have to wait until 2026.
How Russia’s hypersonic missiles work
Russia has deployed hypersonic Kinzhal missiles in its brutal war in Ukraine. The ultrafast and maneuverable weapons are hard to track and shoot down and can have a range of hundreds to thousands of miles.
Our friends at Live Science have taken a look at Russia’s Kinzhal, or “dagger” missiles, which can fly at speeds of at least Mach 5. Here’s what we know so far.
SpaceX to launch OneWeb satellites, not Russia
OneWeb has found a new rocket ride for its internet satellite constellation after Russia suspended its Soyuz rocket launches for the U.K. company and pulled out of a European partnership with Arianespace.
SpaceX Falcon 9 rockets will launch OneWeb’s remaining satellites. You can read the full story from Spaceflight Editor Mike Wall here.
The move is an interesting one for both SpaceX and OneWeb, who are competitors in the satellite internet market. SpaceX is developing its Starlink megaconstellation to provide high-speed broadband around the world, especially in remote or underserved areas. OneWeb’s constellation aims to do the same for different customers.
Russia dismisses controversy over cosmonaut flight suits
Russia’s space agency Roscosmos is scoffing at media reports that discussed possible connections between the yellow and blue flight suits worn by three cosmonauts on the International Space Station and Ukraine.
Cosmonauts Oleg Artemyev, Denis Matveev and Sergey Korsakov wore flight suits that were bright yellow with blue patches, the colors of Ukraine, when they boarded the space station on Friday (March 18) after launching to the orbiting lab on a Russian Soyuz rocket earlier in the day. Some media publications (including Space.com) commented on the striking flight suits and their colors.
On Saturday, Roscosmos denied any connection to Ukraine, stating that the flight suits were made long ago and are in the colors of the Bauman Moscow State Technical University, where all three cosmonauts graduated.
“Sometimes yellow is just yellow,” Roscosmos wrote on Telegram (opens in new tab). “The design of the uniform was agreed upon long before current events.”
Russia uses hypersonic missile in Ukraine attack
Russia has claimed that it used its new Kinzhal hypersonic missile in Ukraine for the first time, marking the ultrafast weapon’s first use in combat. The missile was reportedly used on Friday, March 18, to attack an underground warehouse, according to media reports.
Kinzhal, which means “Dagger” in Russian, is an air-launched missile designed to fly at hypersonic speeds of greater than Mach 5, which is five times the speed of sound and about 3,800 mph (6,100 kph). It is one of several advanced weapons Russia announced in 2018.
The United States, Russia, China and North Korea have all been developing hypersonic weapons due to their speed and maneuverability, which gives them great range and makes them difficult to track and shoot down. Some hypersonic glide weapons are designed to launch on rockets and return to Earth on long glide paths to reach targets around the world.
Russia has reportedly developed one such weapon, a hypersonic incontinental ballistic missile called Avangard.
— Tariq Malik
Russian cosmonauts wear yellow and blue on ISS
Three Russian cosmonauts who launched to the International Space Station on Friday (March 18) donned yellow and blue flight suits when the entered the orbiting lab and joined seven crewmates already aboard once they arrived.
Cosmonauts Oleg Artemyev, Denis Matveev and Sergey Korsakov launched to the station on a Russian Soyuz rocket at 11: 55 a.m. EDT on Friday and arrived at the orbiting lab about 3.5 hours later. When they entered the station 2.5 hours later after spacecraft leak checks, they were wearing the brightly colored flight suits that happened to be the same colors as Ukraine’s flag.
It’s unclear if the clothing choice was in support of Ukraine, a school the cosmonauts attended or just a coincidence. But it was definitely noted by former NASA astronauts watching the docking.
“Three Russian cosmonauts who just docked with the ISS arrive in Ukrainian yellow!” former NASA astronaut Scott Kelly, who flew a yearlong mission on the space station with cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko from March 2015 to March 2016, tweeted Friday (opens in new tab), in both Russian and English.
“Wow. Just wow. Well done. За экипаж!” tweeted Terry Virts (opens in new tab), another former NASA astronaut. (“экипаж” is Russian for “crew,” according to Google Translate.)
— Tariq Malik
Russia’s Ukraine invasion affects Mars rover mission
A Russian rocket embargo on European countries that have levied harsh sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine will keep a Mars rover stuck on Earth until 2026, the European Space Agency said this week.
ESA’s ExoMars rover was scheduled to launch in September on a Russian-built Proton rocket from the Russian-led Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. But ESA halted all science cooperation with Russia after that country invaded Ukraine. Russia’s space agency Roscosmos then said it would repurpose rockets sold to European and commercial customers, negating the planned September launch of the ExoMars rover.
ESA officials are now weighing their options to try and find a new partner to launch the ExoMars rover by 2026. Doing so will require a new non-Russian built landing platform and a new rocket.
Space.com Senior Writer Tereza Pultarova has the full story here.
— Tariq Malik
Astronaut Scott Kelly to stop Twitter spat with Roscosmos
Former NASA astronaut Scott Kelly said this week that he will back off his Twitter spat with Russia’s space agency chief Dmitry Rogozin after receiving a letter from NASA asking its former astronauts to refrain from remarks that could imperil the ongoing U.S.-Russian cooperation on the International Space Station, according to CNN. Space.com contributor Elizabeth Howell has the story.
Kelly has been vocal on Twitter speaking out against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, with Rogozin answering him directly on Twitt