Ukraine crisis: Joe Biden announces tougher sanctions on Russia
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But Mr Biden was keen to slap down “harsh” sanctions on Russia given the chaos it is causing in Ukraine. Part of the “harsh” US sanctions slapped down on Russia were intended to “degrade their aerospace industry, including their space program”. This has sparked fury in Russia as tensions in a renewed space-race appear to be soaring.
Dmitry Rogozin, Roscosmos Director-General wrote on Twitter: “Do you want to destroy our cooperation on the ISS?
“If you block cooperation with us, then who is going to save the ISS from an uncontrolled descent from orbit and then falling onto the territory of the United States or Europe?
“There is also a scenario where the 500-ton structure falls on India or China. Do you want to threaten them with this prospect? The ISS doesn’t fly over Russia, so all the risks are yours.”
Mr Rogozin also begged the US to waive what he dubbed “Alzheimer’s sanctions”.
This comes after the US’ top space officials said that Russia’s invasion was likely to extend into space.
National Reconnaissance Office Director Chris Scolese wanred that Russia could target satellites and jam GPS systems.
This could have devastating down on Earth.
Mr Scolese warned: ““Russia places a high priority on integrating electronic warfare into military operations and has been investing heavily in modernizing this capability.
“Russia has a multitude of systems that can jam GPS receivers within a local area, potentially interfering with the guidance systems of unmanned aerial vehicles, guided missiles and precision guided munitions, but has no known capability to interfere with GPS satellites themselves using radio frequency interference.”
NASA also did not seem bothered about Mr Rogozin’s outburst.
The agency responded: “”The new export control measures will continue to allow U.S.-Russia civil space operation.
“No changes are planned to the agency’s support for ongoing in-orbit and ground-station operations.”
Tensions between the US and Russia in space have been soaring in recent months after a Russian missile test sent debris flying towards the ISS.
Astronauts had to flee to their spacecrafts for cover after the direct-ascent anti-satellite (ASAT) drill, which led to NASA lashing out at Russia over the “reckless” move.
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said in a statement following the incident: ““Like Secretary Blinken, I’m outraged by this irresponsible and destabilizing action.
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“With its long and storied history in human spaceflight, it is unthinkable that Russia would endanger not only the American and international partner astronauts on the ISS, but also their own cosmonauts.
“Their actions are reckless and dangerous, threatening as well the Chinese space station and the taikonauts on board.”
But this also comes as China and Russia appear to striking a terrifying space partnership to rival the US’ dominance in space in what may be a renewed space-race.
Beijing has confirmed that it will be building a research station on the moon, the International Lunar Research Station (ILRS), to rival the US’ Lunar Gateway.
Lunar Gateway is also a planned space station in the moon’s orbit which could serve as a vital hub for communication and research.
Russia and China have also agreed to cooperate on the launch of a robotic lunar mission, Chang’e 7, around 2025, according to Liu Jizhong, director of the administration’s China Lunar Exploration and Space Engineering Center.
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