Russia Pulls Space Cooperation in Response to Ukraine Sanctions

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia will bar the United States from using Russian-made rocket engines for military satellite launches, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said on Tuesday, retaliating for sanctions on high-tech equipment which Washington has imposed over the Ukraine crisis.

He also said Russia would reject a U.S. request to prolong the use of the International Space Station beyond 2020...

Rogozin also said Russia will suspend the operation of GPS satellite navigation system sites in Russia from June and seek talks with Washington on opening similar sites in the United States for Russia's own system, Glonass.

He threatened the permanent closure of the GPS sites in Russia if that is not agreed by September.

Chakravartin wrote:
This might just be the way human exploration of space ends and the extinction of our species becomes easily foreseeable.

Obama bans NASA-Russia contact
BY DAVID BAKER – APRIL 3, 2014
POSTED IN: LATEST NEWS AND INFORMATION, SPACEFLIGHT
As a reprisal for what it perceives as a violation of Ukrainian sovereignty, with full White House approval, yesterday the US government banned contact by NASA officials with Russian government officials forthwith and until further notice. The move comes as one of a continuing series of sanctions, restrictions and exclusions imposed on Russia by the US government since elections in the Crimea found in favour of the majority of its citizens returning to Russian administration.

In a lighting strike at continuing cooperation between NASA and its Russian counterpart, the Obama administration has angered US aerospace and programme officials by potentially threatening the continued operation of the International Space Station. While not explicitly halting continued operations the possibility of a Russian response leaves open the prospect of reciprocal restrictions on US seats aboard Soyuz.

max wrote:
As if Obama did not start the idiotic process...

Chakravartin wrote:
[quote=max]
As if Obama did not start the idiotic process...

DeusxMac wrote: With the reduced level of funding approved by Congress, we’re now looking at launching from U.S. soil in 2017."

Earth Science: cut by $56 million (given that so many in Congress are climate change deniers who want to cut Earth-observing missions, I think this may be a mistake). Astrophysics: cut by $61 million (including mothballing the wonderful SOFIA aircraft unless a German partner can pony up the cash; see page 15 of the report). Planetary Science: cut by $65 million. That last one is almost a victory, given how the White House has tried to eviscerate planetary exploration over the past few years. But don’t be fooled; these cuts would hurt. A lot. (Note added after I wrote this article but before it was posted: Casey Dreier at The Planetary Society has more on this situation.)

But the one that really gets me, the one that is appalling, is the cut to Education: It will see a devastating reduction in funding of nearly $28 million, dropping to $89 million if this budget is passed as is. That’s nearly a 24 percent drop.

This is madness. I can’t brand it any other way.