Dimitry Rogozin, head of Roscosmos, the Russian space agency, responded to the US announcement of sanctions against Russia following the latter’s invasion of Ukraine with a series of ‘retaliatory’ tweets, including one saying that there is a ‘chance’ of a 500-tonne structure of the International Space Station (ISS) ‘falling on India’.
One of Rogozin’s tweets said: ‘If you block cooperation with us, who will save the ISS from an uncontrolled deorbit and fall into the United States or Europe? There is also the option/chance of dropping a 500-ton structure to India and China. Do you want to threaten them with such a prospect? The ISS does not fly over Russia, so all the risks are yours. Are you ready for them?’ the translation of the following tweet read.
However, the Russian space chief was likely to have meant there was a ‘chance’ that it would land in India or China. ISS, built by the US, Russia, Europe, Canada and Japan, is an example of non-partisan cooperation between space programs and has hosted more than 200 people, including from countries not involved in its construction.
In response to US President Joe Biden’s statement that American sanctions would affect Russian space programs, Rogozin tweeted: ‘…OK. It remains to find out the details: 1. Do you want to block our access to radiation-resistant space microelectronics? So you already did it quite officially in 2014. As you noticed, we, nevertheless, continue to make our own spacecraft. And we will do them by expanding the production of the necessary components and devices at home. 2. Do you want to ban all countries from launching their spacecraft on the most reliable Russian rockets in the world?’
Additionally, he mentioned that the US ‘was already planning to destroy the world market of space competition’.
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