What would the space station be without Russia?

In the weeks since the war in Ukraine, the International Space Station (ISS) has been seen as a symbol of cooperation for the sake of science and non-politics. But statements like "science is not influenced by politics" seem to be empty words.

The future of the ISS is in question, with Russia warning that it may stop cooperating with the West on related space missions if sanctions against the country are not lifted.

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US astronaut Mark Vande Hei (left) with Russian cosmonauts Anton Shkaplerov (centre) and Pyotr Dubrov (right) after landing on Earth in Dzhezkazgan, Kazakhstan on March 30. The NASA side thanked Russia after the successful landing

Russia and the West are turning space cooperation projects into targets of retaliation and sanctions. On March 17, Europe announced that it would terminate cooperation with Russia in the ExoMars project to explore life on Mars because of the attack on Ukraine.

On March 21, OneWeb, a British satellite company, also postponed the launch of 36 satellites into space on a Russian rocket and switched to SpaceX of the US.

In the middle of last week, the flight back to Earth of a US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) astronaut and two Russian colleagues aboard a Russian-developed spacecraft raised hopes of cooperation between Russia and Russia. The West on the ISS will be unbreakable.

However, this thinking was shaken when the director of Russia's Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos), Dmitry Rogozin, threatened to end the partnership if the West did not lift sanctions on Russia.

In a post on Twitter on April 2, Mr. Rogozin confirmed that space projects related to the ISS and other projects will not be able to resume or continue as usual.

He described the sanctions as the West's way of trying to "kill the Russian economy and drive the people into despair and hunger" and suggested that this attempt was bound to fail.

Roscosmos will soon notify the Russian Government of the end of cooperation on the ISS with the space agencies of the US, Canada, EU and Japan. Earlier, Mr. Rogozin warned that sanctions could destroy the relationship between NASA and Roscosmos on the ISS.

Will the ISS crash without Russia?

Mr. Rogozin also warned that the ISS - humanity's largest artificial satellite - could fall to Earth without Russia's help.

He explained this is because Russia contributed significantly to the construction of the ISS's orbit and speed control unit to avoid space debris. Adjustments take place on average about 11 times a year, and only Russian spacecraft can carry upgraded equipment to this department.

The components of the ISS built by NASA and Russia are separate but closely connected.

The Russians rely on American solar panels for power, while Russian cargo ships provide periodic boosters to keep the station from falling into the atmosphere.

Joel Montalbano, the director of the ISS program at NASA, describes the operation of the ISS as an activity from which "no country can separate and go its own way".

The New York Times called the Ukraine conflict an important test for NASA of how far the agency can go in operating the ISS without Russia.

For nearly a decade after the shuttle was decommissioned, Russia's Soyuz was the only way Americans could get to the ISS and back. Now, NASA has been able to use SpaceX's spacecraft and is about to launch Starliner - a manned spacecraft developed by Boeing that is expected to take off later this year.

However, NASA still wants some astronauts to fly on the Russian Soyuz, according to the New York Times. Instead of paying as before, NASA wants an exchange, that is, Russian cosmonauts will fly on American ships and vice versa.

Although the two sides have not yet reached an agreement on this, the Russian cosmonauts arrived in Houston (USA) and began the training process.

"This is a very challenging time for international relations," NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei, who recently returned to Earth on a Russian spacecraft, told the New York Times. He hoped that the links between the West and Russia through the space program would be maintained, contributing to the search for peace and reconciliation.

Russia strengthens cooperation with China

NASA wants to upgrade and extend the life of the ISS to 2030, but Russia does not agree and wants the ISS to end its historic mission in 2024.

According to the New York Times, in the current context, Russia may be looking to develop its own space station or strengthen cooperation with China.

Sino-Russian space cooperation has grown in recent years, including cooperation agreements on China's Chang'e 6 and 7 (Chang'e) missions and Russia's Luna 27, a data center common data for lunar and deep space exploration and a project called "International Lunar Research Station" (ILRS).

According to the plan, the first launches in the effort to build ILRS will begin in 2030 thanks to a new generation of super-heavy rockets developed by both Russia and China.