Sanctions could prompt International Space Station to crash, warns Russia

Russia has said that the sanctions imposed on it by the West could pull the International Space Station down to earth

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has had many fallouts. Apart from the loss of lives, significant among the many setbacks are the sanction sanctions imposed by the US and the western world on Russia.

While the sanctions are aimed at making President Vladimir Putin do a rethink on his military operations in Ukraine and withdraw the attacking spree, Russia seems to be unconcerned.

While continuing with the military operations in Ukraine, Russia is hitting back at the US and the West by sounding alarm bells on the probability of failure of the International Space Station (ISS).

The warring nation has send out a warning to the Western countries saying that the sanctions imposed on it as a result of the Ukraine invasion lead to the crash of the International Space Station (ISS) crashing.

International Space Station at risk?

The reason being attributed to the possible crash is that the sanctions imposed on Russia would halt the operation of Russian vessels servicing the International Space Station. Dmitry Rogozin, the head of Russian space agency Roscosmos, has been quoted as saying that it is the Russian operations towards servicing the International Space Station that keep it going. In case it stops, the Russian segment of the station that helps correct its orbit could be disrupted, and could lead to the 500-tonne structure crashing into the into the sea or on land.

For those who aren’t aware, the International Space Station (ISS) is a modular space station in low Earth orbit, and operates as a multinational collaborative project. Five space agencies, such as NASA, Roscosmos, JAXA, ESA, and CSA are part of the collaboration. The ownership and use of the space station is established by intergovernmental treaties and agreements.

Roscosmos chief wants sanctions to go

The Roscosmos chief has called for immediate withdrawal of sanctions imposed on Russia if the ISS is to run fine and hassle-free. He has tweeted that if the Western nations block cooperation with Russia, who will save the ISS from uncontrolled deorbiting and falling into the United States or Europe?

Adding that there are chances that the 500-ton structure might even drop on India or China, he stated that the countries that have imposed sanctions should not let that happen. As the ISS does not fly over Russia, the country is not at risk, he added. It remains to be seen whether the West would take note of this warning.