Shri Vinay Kwatra, India’s Foreign Secretary: “With regard to the BRICS space consortium, second question, also cooperation in space. Look, there is already a BRICS Remote Sensing Satellite Constellation which was established by BRICS during India’s chairmanship. Space is a domain in which we have been very forward leaning in offering our capacities in a cooperative framework with other countries. So, for example, India has SAARC satellite which we built essentially for the South Asian Association of Regional Countries. BRICS, as I said, BRICS Remote Sensing Satellite Constellation and the Space Exploration Consortium that we have proposed will essentially take that as a base layer and build on it. Now, obviously, for any such concept to be successful, it has to address the priorities which each of the BRICS countries would have. So, the relevant working groups of the BRICS which would deal with this would look into this aspect, identify its elements and the space of cooperation in space, in the field of space or space in the field of space is actually so extensive. It’s so, I would say, productive in terms of how we integrate the capacities in the space with our own economic endeavors. This can be a very, very promising area of cooperation and something in which, as I said, India has always been forward leaning in terms of offering its capacities.” — Transcript of Special Briefing by Foreign Secretary on Prime Minister’s visit to South Africa and Greece (August 24, 2023) — More news below.
(more…)Keith’s note: Russia has lost the Luna-25 spacecraft which crashed on the Moon after a propulsion event went wrong. Roscosmos has confirmed the loss via Telegram (translation) “On August 19, in accordance with the flight program of the Luna-25 spacecraft, an impulse was provided for the formation of its pre-landing elliptical orbit. At about 14:57 Moscow time, communication with the Luna-25 spacecraft was interrupted. The measures taken on August 19 and 20 to search for the device and get into contact with it did not produce any results. According to the results of a preliminary analysis, due to the deviation of the actual parameters of the impulse from the calculated ones, the device switched to an off-design orbit and ceased to exist as a result of a collision with the lunar surface. A specially formed interdepartmental commission will deal with the issues of clarifying the reasons for the loss of the Moon.” More. Update: I just did an interview on Deutsche Welle TV about this [Audio] [Video from DW]
(more…)Keith’s note: Whenever I am asked about the Russian issue on the ISS on TV I usually reply that while things are bad back on Earth, somehow we always managed to cooperate in space with the same people we cannot get along with on Earth – and that maybe how we live in space can provide us a lesson with how we should live on our home planet’s surface. Indeed I think the idea of ISS as a Nobel Peace Prize winner is a good one. In the past several years that in-space cooperation has been tested with regard to Russia. We’ve seen that relationship challenged by Nauka’s malfunction, leaky Soyuz and Progress spacecraft, accusations of American astronaut tampering, and repugnant rants from the (former) head of Russia’s space program (who is now an active participant in the invasion of Ukraine). Yet the ISS continues to operate surprisingly smoothly. Now the U.S. has openly declared that “The United States has formally determined that Russia has committed crimes against humanity.” Is Bill Nelson going to address this? Probably not. Oddly Bill Nelson has been quite vocal for months about China (not a NASA partner in space). Yet when it comes to a formal U.S. accusation of crimes against humanity in Ukraine by Russia (an actual NASA partner in space) Nelson is surprisingly quiet. Why is that?
(more…)Keith’s note: Yesterday NASA and Roscosmos announced their plan to send up an un-crewed Soyuz MS-23 on 20 February to the ISS to replace the damaged Soyuz MS-22 currently in orbit. Two cosmonauts and one astronaut will then return home on Soyuz MS-23 while Soyuz MS-22 will eventually be sent back for a destructive re-entry. I was on France 24 [audio] at 3:15 pm EST and on Al Jazeera [audio] at 4:45 pm EST to talk about this today.
(more…)Заради аварията на Союз МС-22: съкращават екипажите на следващите американски и руски пилотирани кораби – Keith’s note: An English auto-translation of this article says Soyuz MS-23 will be launched with one crew and then bring cosmonauts Prokopiev and Petelin (currently on ISS) home. The next SpaceX Dragon will be launched with 3 crew – cosmonaut would Fedyaev bumped to a later mission – to bring Rubio home. MS-22 would eventually be deorbited with no crew.
(more…)Keith’s note: apparently ex-Roscosmos chief and currently a cosplay soldier of fortune in Ukraine, Dmitry Rogozin, was injured when artillery hit the restaurant where he was celebrating his birthday. Reports below:
(more…)Keith’s note: At the post-launch press event today Roscosmos representative Sergei Krikalev was asked if his upbeat and professional tone was an attempt to dial back the behavior of the former head of Roscosmos, Dmitry Rogozin. He gave a one word response: “Yes”, smiled, and there was laughter in the room.
(more…)Keith’s note: The State Department is urging Americans to not travel to Russia and if they are in Russia, to leave as soon as possible. As we all know, NASA has a number of personnel and astronauts in various locations for training and support of the International Space Station program. Alerts below:
(more…)Keith’s note: Ukraine invasion Sanctions imposed on Russian Duma officials include Vostok 6 Cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman in space. More: Treasury Imposes Swift and Severe Costs on Russia for Putin’s Purported Annexation of Regions of Ukraine
(more…)Good question for media to ask @Roscosmos Cosmonaut Anna Kikina is whether she plans to participate in on-orbit political efforts in support of the Russian invasion of #Ukraine as the current Russians on #ISS have done. BTW this is why @NASAWatch is not allowed to ask questions. https://t.co/g5rN9DWwqJ — NASA Watch (@NASAWatch) August 4, 2022
Russia to NASA: Sticking with space station until at least 2028, Reuters “Russian space officials told their U.S. counterparts that Moscow expects to remain on the International Space Station at least until their own outpost in orbit is built in 2028, NASA’s space operations chief told Reuters. The assurance on Tuesday from Russia came after the newly appointed head of its space agency, Roscosmos, surprised NASA earlier in the day […]
Keith Cowing · NASAWatch on BBC World Service: Is Russia Leaving ISS? Keith’s note: I got this from NASA PAO at 5:11 pm EDT: “NASA is committed to the safe operation of the International Space Station through 2030, and is coordinating with our partners. NASA has not been made aware of decisions from any of the partners, though we are continuing to build future capabilities to assure our major presence […]
Russia says they're done with ISS in 2024. Let's see what they say next week. They have no money for their own station, China doesn't need them, and they are currently an international pariah due to the #Ukraine invasion – hardly a strong bargaining position. Just sayin' #ISSRDC pic.twitter.com/qPKfOoasTg — NASA Watch (@NASAWatch) July 26, 2022 Russia To Quit International Space Station “After 2024”, NDTV “I think that by this […]
Dmitry Rogozin has been dismissed as director general of Roscosmos [Updated], Ars Technica “This brings an end to Rogozin’s tumultuous career at Roscosmos, where he directly worked with the leaders of other international space agencies, including NASA and other International Space Station partners such as Europe, Canada, and Japan. Since the invasion of Ukraine, Rogozin has been increasingly bellicose and made numerous threats about Russian participation in the station. While […]
FYI @Rogozin “NASA strongly rebukes Russia using the International Space Station for political purposes to support its war against Ukraine." pic.twitter.com/mCJoGQw3xM — NASA Watch (@NASAWatch) July 7, 2022 Keith’s note: Cosmonauts Oleg Artemyev, Denis Matveyev, and Sergey Korsakov posed with a flag of the Luhansk People’s Republic on the International Space Station. NASA’s response: “NASA strongly rebukes Russia using the International Space Station for political purposes to support its war […]
Hey @SenBillNelson – since @Rogozin and @Roscosmos are using the ISS program for various forms of invasion propaganda perhaps @NASA can offer to fly an astronaut from #Ukraine – they are an #Artemis Accord signatory after all. Just a thought. https://t.co/CEy5jtqIPj — NASA Watch (@NASAWatch) June 13, 2022
Apparently @Rogozin has to go through a special process to use Twitter given that it is blocked for Russians thus requiring work arounds. pic.twitter.com/7SQTXyD06w — NASA Watch (@NASAWatch) June 2, 2022
Keith’s note: According to the NASA TV schedule: “Friday, June 3 5:15 a.m. – Coverage of the launch of the ISS Progress 81 cargo craft (Launch scheduled at 5:32 a.m. EDT)” Apparently NASA is going to air live video that clearly shows a rocket with Russian propaganda regarding the war in Ukraine on its side in immense, hard to miss lettering. Really NASA? The Soyuz 2.1A rocket with Progress MS-20 […]