Despite the rising tensions over the Ukraine crisis, the long-standing US-Russia space cooperation for operating the International Space Station (ISS) is going strong.
History of US-Russia space cooperation
The collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War originally sparked the US-Soviet space race. The international space station was born out of this, aiming to improve foreign relations between the US and Russia.
Congress has also banned new government contracts with companies that are utilizing Russian rocket engineers. The move is aimed at protecting national security launches after 2022 according to an online source. However, the new sanctions imposed by the US are not affecting Roscosmos, the Russian space agency.
Back in 2011, the US stopped its space shuttle program and started paying Roscosmos for ferrying NASA astronauts. However, the US started launching its astronauts from American soil in 2020. But was depending on Russia’s Soyuz for some of its rides. But, with the new deal, American astronauts can fly aboard the Soyuz for free in exchange for allowing Russian cosmonauts to hitch a ride on SpaceX flights.
New sanctions don’t affect Roscosmos
Prior to the escalation of tensions in Ukraine, the US-Russian space cooperation was in dangerous waters due to an unannounced missile test. It destroyed a Russian surveillance satellite. All seven ISS crew at the time had to shelter in the docked spaceships for about two hours. Bill Nelson, the NASA chief called the anti-satellite test a ‘reckless’ job. He said that Roscosmos was “probably just as appalled as we are”.
Now, amidst the crisis in Ukraine, NASA and Roscosmos are in talks to decide the ‘crew exchange’ deal. Weeks after the Biden administration pledged to keep the ISS around till 2030, NASA stated that the two agencies will form an agreement for routinely sharing flights to the space station.
Currently, the maintenance of the operation of ISS is taken care of by a total of six astronauts- four American, two Russian, and one German.