The United States and Russia have cooperated to run the International Space Station (ISS) for decades, but the recent invasion of Ukraine threatens to unravel that partnership, CNBC reports.
Voyager Space President Jeff Manber told the news network that "the ISS program has led a charmed life" as well as having "overcome all sorts of political and technical issues." However, he added, "We now face our greatest challenge."
Manber, who formerly headed the U.S. subsidiary of Energia, a Russian manufacturer, said that while Russia's space agency Roscosmos is unlikely to pull out of the partnership, "the challenge of renewal past 2024 has never been greater."
He added, "It would be a huge technical challenge to continue the International Space Station without the Russian contributions," as well as extremely expensive.
NASA told CNBC in a statement that it "continues working with all our international partners, including the State Space Corporation Roscosmos, for the ongoing safe operations of the International Space Station," where seven people — four Americans, two Russians, and one German — currently are stationed.
President Joe Biden announced a series of sanctions against Russia in response to the invasion, including provisions that he said will "degrade their aerospace industry, including the space program."
Manber said, "The major manufacturers in Russia rely on Western electronic components for the launch vehicles and other components of their contribution to ISS. It is possible that, without [the Biden administration] giving it too much thought that [these sanctions] could force Russia to withdraw from the ISS program."
According to NASA, "the new export control measures will continue to allow U.S.-Russia civil space cooperation," and "no changes are planned to the agency’s support for ongoing in orbit and ground station operations."
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