Russia has recently announced its decision to leave the International Space Station by 2024. It will be focusing on building its own outer space technology in the coming years.
The current Russia and Ukraine crisis as well as strict sanctions against Russia has led to this. The West has continuously imposed stricter sanctions against Russia in recent times. Russia has made clear by its stance that it is not looking forward to augment further collaborations.
But the move poses a setback to the collaborative scientific engagements. Scientists fear that it will lead to increased space militarisation. The scientific community believes that militarisation happens the minute a rocket is launched.
This again crumbles the last vestiges of collaborations between Russia and the United States. It is a matter of grave concern for the entire humanity. Russia has made clear that it doesn’t want further arrangements with the west for scientific purposes and collaborations.
More about International Space Station:
The International Space Station was founded in the year of 1998. The members of the project are the United States (NASA), Russia (Roscosmos) Japan (JXA), Canada (CSA), European Union (ESA). Moreover, it also includes members like the United Kingdom, France, Belgium, Denmark, Spain, Italy, Germany, Switzerland and Sweden among others.
The International Space Station conducts research that can’t be conducted on Earth. For instance, it studies the effect of weightlessness on the human body. Moreover, it is making a deep analysis on the effect of outer space radiation on the human body and how humans can prolong their life in space. It is one of its kind where futuristic technologies are tested that will help humans go to space and colonise it.
The key players are Russia and the United States that contribute in the majority of the ventures. Canada’s contribution is so limited that it accounts for only a meagre 2.3 percent of the space station.
Michael Byres, a professor from British Columbia who studies outer space politics in depth commented that this event “is a non-story.” He wrote in an email that Russia says that periodically but then they continue their missions.
Russia made half of the space station. The other half was made by NASA of the United States. Russian technology helps to stabilise the ISS while American solar panels power the space station. Russia helps it to maintain its orbit while revolving around Earth.
ISS was made with the purpose to share technologies among each other so that it could be maintained. Its main purpose was to augment collaborations in deep space research and other related fields.
What did Russia contribute?
Recently, Russia has been responsible for carrying astronauts and cosmonauts to the space station. If Russia backs out, the remaining countries will not be left with a viable and safe option to reach the vehicle.
It would be difficult for the ISS to get spare parts made by Russian technology.
However, Russia has promised that it will honour all the commitments before leaving the ISS. NASA spokesperson said that the agency wants to keep the space station functioning till at least 2030.
Some people are of the opinion that this move might fuel the earlier space race in the upcoming years. They fear that the “Star Wars” program to shoot down inter ballistic missiles will become a reality. But the probabilities are really low. It will also hanker collaborations on scientific grounds for the greater good of humanity.
