Now Russia’s space chief is threatening to crash the ISS on the United States
In order to correct the orbit of the International Space Station (ISS), engines are fired regularly
Quelle: picture alliance / dpa / Kao Corpora
In response to US sanctions in the Ukraine war, the Russian space chief has warned that the ISS could crash on the US. US President Biden probably does not know how important Russian engines are for the 500-ton space station. Europe could also be affected.
Dhe head of the Russian space agency has warned of an uncontrolled crash of the International Space Station ISS as a consequence of the US sanctions in the Ukraine war. The rubble of the 500-ton construction could then possibly hit the USA or Europe.
In several short messages, Dmitry Rogozin from the Roscosmos agency threatened the consequences of the sanctions announced by US President Joe Biden. “If you block cooperation with us, then who will save the ISS from an uncontrolled descent from orbit,” asks Rogozin.
Biden had previously announced cuts to Russia’s high-tech imports. It will also affect the aerospace industry, including the space program, he said. As the Russian space chief wrote, the US President may not have known that major corrections to the orbit of the ISS space station require Russian engines to be ignited, and this is the only way to prevent a crash.
Europe and India could also be hit
In fact, engines on the ISS are regularly fired to raise the orbit about 400 kilometers. The drives were also repeatedly activated to avoid space debris. Engines would also be required for a controlled, safe crash of the ISS structure at the end of its service life. For example, the MIR space station set up in space by the former Soviet Union was deliberately sunk in the South Pacific in 2001. When entering the atmosphere, a large part of the 140-ton MIR burned up.
According to the head of the Russian space agency, the United States should be careful that the sanctions that have just been announced fall on their heads, not just in a figurative sense. The US President may not be up to date with his statements and do not know the technical details. Rogozin speaks provocatively of “Alzheimer sanctions”.
Some of Rogozin’s statements met with astonishment among experts. The Russian space chief writes that the ISS does not fly over Russia, which is not correct. In addition to the US and Europe, India and China could also be hit, Rogozin warns.
Remedy by Musk’s space capsules
With his statements, the Russian space chief draws attention to the mutual dependence of Russia and the USA on the ISS. The Russian part of the ISS depends on the power supply from US modules. For years, the USA and Europe were also dependent on being able to fly in Soyuz capsules in order to be able to fly to the ISS at all after the end of the US space shuttle program.
In the course of the Ukraine crisis in 2014 and the sanctions imposed by the West at the time, Rogozin used his power at the time to gamble on astronaut transport and warned in a different version. NASA could use a trampoline for the flight into space, he provoked the USA. Only the successful development of space flight capsules by Elon Musk’s US company SpaceX created an alternative. Billionaire tech entrepreneur Musk announced in 2020, echoing Rogozin’s comment, “The trampoline works.”
It is still unclear what concrete consequences the cuts announced by Biden will have for the Russian aerospace industry. For example, there is also Russian engine technology in some US missiles.
The US space agency Nasa told the industry service Space.com that the operation of the ISS will continue as planned. So far, space experts have said that the ISS is a prime example of peaceful coexistence between people from different countries. In space, the cooperation has always worked.
“Everything on shares” is the daily stock exchange shot from the WELT business editorial team. Every morning from 7 a.m. with the financial journalists from WELT. For stock market experts and beginners. Subscribe to the podcast at Spotify, Apple Podcast, Amazon Music and Deezer. Or directly by RSS-Feed.