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The war in Ukraine also has consequences in space. The future of the International Space Station, the ISS, raises many questions. In orbit since 1998, the result of a major partnership between Russia and the United States, the end of the project is now to be feared.
The partnership between Russia and the United States in orbit has already overcome a lot. At the height of the Crimean crisis in 2014, American astronauts continued to use Soyuz Russians to join the International Space Station. An example of cooperation despite the earth’s geopolitical tensions which now seems to be fizzling out.
Since the start of the invasion of Ukraine, positions have hardened and Roscosmos is already talking regarding its withdrawal from the project. The Russian space agency has published a video where we see its modules disconnecting from the rest of the ISS.
►To listen: The collateral damage of the war in Ukraine in the space sector
A warning which however has little chance of being realized as the Russian and American parts of the station are interconnected. In Moscow, the altitude control of the machine and in Houston, the power supply: one does not work without the other.
That said, there are many questions regarding the future of the ISS: the project must currently operate until 2024. NASA wants to continue it until 2030, a proposal to which its Russian counterpart.
The fate reserved for the American astronaut Mark van de Hei might however soon provide indications. In orbit for almost a year aboard the station, he is due to come down at the end of the month with two fellow cosmonauts aboard a Russian Soyuz.
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