Roscosmos to Brief Russian Government on Options for Ending ISS Cooperation Soon, Rogozin Says

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The Russian space agency Roscosmos will soon inform the government of how it plans to terminate cooperation with Western partners on the International Space Station, its chief said.

“Roscosmos will present its concrete proposals on the timeline for ending ISS cooperation with US, Canadian, EU and Japanese space agencies to the leadership of our country soon,” Dmitry Rogozin said on Telegram.

He argued that Russia and the West could have a space cooperation only after all sanctions on Russia were lifted.

“A return to a normal relationship between… partners will only be possible once illegal sanctions are fully and unconditionally scrapped,” Rogozin said.

The head of the US, European and Canadian space agencies have refused to deal with the crippling sanctions on the Russian space industry, Dmitry Rogozin said.

Rogozin published letters by NASA administrator Bill Nelson, the European Space Agency CEO Josef Aschbacher and the Canadian Space Agency chief exec Lisa Campbell, saying their responses were "almost identical."

Nelson wrote that "NASA will continue to work with relevant US Federal departments and agencies to facilitate continued cooperation on and operation of the ISS… Sustaining safe and successful ISS operations remains a priority for the United States."

Campbell said that while CSA had not direct cooperation with the sanctioned Russian engineering companies "we will continue to work with the relevant Canadian Government organizations to facilitate continued cooperation and operation of the ISS."

ESA’s Aschbacher said he would forward the request on mediation in lifting sanctions on the Russian space industry to the ESA member states "as these matters falls under their responsibility."

Rozogin lashed back at Aschbacher, saying that while the 28 member state bureaucracies were dealing with the issue the International Space Station would "die its natural death."

He argued that the responses showed that the West would not have sanctions on the Russian space industry scrapped but he suggested that these restrictions would not work in areas where Russian participation in the ISS project was critical.