Ukraine-Russia Crisis: Roscosmos Warns U.S. Sanctions Could 'Destroy' ISS

US President Joe Biden said new sanctions would degrade Russia's space program. However, Russia's space agency claims that Biden's new penalties might jeopardize collaboration on the International Space Station (ISS).

According to the Associated Press, Russia invaded Ukraine this week. Kremlin initiated military operations in numerous cities, including Kyiv, that have killed at least 40 people. World leaders have reacted to the war, and Biden indicated today that the United States would respond with new sanctions.

ISS, which has been continuously staffed by orbiting crews of astronauts and cosmonauts since 2000, is a massively expensive, complex, and incredibly successful example of superpower cooperation that dates back to the end of the Cold War.

The ISS is separated into two sections: the Russian Orbital Segment and the US Orbital Segment, a partnership between the United States, Russia, Japan, Canada, and the European Space Agency.

Roscosmos Reacts to Biden's Sanctions to Russia

President Joe Biden proposed additional sanctions against Russia on Thursday in response to the country's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, including a plan to "degrade" the country's space program.

Biden believes that its government efforts, together with those of its allies and partners, will cut off more than half of Russia's high-tech imports.

"It will strike a blow to their ability to continue to modernize their military. It'll degrade their aerospace industry, including their space program," he said per official White House Transcript.

Despite the warning, a NASA representative told CNN that the agency cooperates with all of its international partners, including the State Space Corporation Roscosmos, to ensure the International Space Station's continued safe operations.

Biden's statement appears to have irritated Roscosmos chairman Dmitry Rogozin. He responded with a series of tweets shortly after Biden delivered his speech, and it's safe to say he wasn't happy.

On Twitter, the head of Roscosmos asked Biden whether he intended to prohibit countries from using "the most trustworthy Russian rockets in the world" to launch their spacecraft.

"This is how you are already doing it and are planning to finally destroy the world market of space competition from January 1, 2023, by imposing sanctions on our launch vehicles. We are aware. This is also not news. We are ready to act here too," Rogozin tweeted in Russian (translated with Twitter translate).

ALSO READ: ISS Astronauts Isolated From Ukraine-Russia Crisis, Ex-Space Official Says; European Space Partnerships Affected?

He also questioned whether Biden wants to "destroy" Russia's collaboration on the International Space Station, which the country helped create.

But Rogozin's Twitter interrogation did not end there. The Roscosmos chairman also slammed NASA's current proposal to drop the International Space Station into the Pacific Ocean once it retires in 2030.

"If you block cooperation with us, who will save the ISS from uncontrolled deorbiting and falling into the United States or Europe?" There is also the option 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?" Rogozin added.

He's referring to a section of NASA's ISS Transition Report that says three Russian Progress spacecraft might assist the orbiting laboratory in its de-orbiting.

Rogozin said that Russian engines provide the power to raise the station's height to overcome atmospheric drag and to move the lab out of the way when space debris threatens the station.

In any event, Russian engines will provide the thrust required to safely return the space station to the atmosphere after its mission, with re-entry planned over an unpopulated stretch of ocean to avoid debris falling on populated regions.

He also took a shot at SpaceX CEO Elon Musk in another Tweet, accusing him of "polluting" low-Earth orbit by deploying hundreds of Starlink broadband satellites.

US-Russia ISS Partnership

The space station's development and operation required close cooperation between the United States and Russia. CBS News said Russia stepped in when the space shuttle was grounded after the Columbia tragedy in 2003.

It flew a regular supply of astronauts to the lab. Roscosmos then helped in supplying transportation for American and partner-agency astronauts when the shuttle program ended in 2011. Roscosmos has benefited from the ferry service, charging up to $90 million a ticket and raking in $4 billion since 2006.

Space.com said the precise impact of the new restrictions on this and other planned Russian space initiatives is unknown. Future launches that signify partnerships between Russia and nations opposing its operations in Ukraine are also in peril.

For example, on April 6, the European Space Agency (which excludes Ukraine) will launch two Galileo satellites from French Guiana, which is controlled by France, a NATO and EU member.

In addition, OneWeb, a commercial satellite firm based in London with operations in the United States, intended to launch a new crop of satellites from Kazakhstan's Baikonur Cosmodrome on March 4 atop a Soyuz rocket.

RELATED ARTICLE: Point Nemo's 'Space Cemetery:' Here's How International Space Station's Grave Would Look Like

Check out more news and information on Space in Science Times.