Russian state space agency Roscosmos is considering building its own space station, RIA news agency quoted its chief as saying on Monday, underlining how international tensions are affecting space cooperation. Such a project would rival the International Space Station (ISS), an orbiting laboratory that involves 15 nations including Russia and the United States. Moscow has cast doubt on the ISS’s long-term future as ties with Washington plummet over Ukraine.
The International Space Station is a great example of how different nations can work together to create something pretty awesome. In this case a habitable location orbiting the Earth. And it was made possible by the combined efforts of the US, European, and Russian space agencies. However, growing political tensions could mean we get a second space station, only this one would be a purely Russian affair. Russia’s actions with regards to Ukraine has seen relations with the West stretched to breaking point and trade sanctions put in place. The crumbling relationship is impacting all areas of government, including those departments working on space tech. With that in mind, the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) is starting to view its own alternative to ISS as a real possibility.
