Close Menu
TechCentralTechCentral

    Subscribe to the newsletter

    Get the best South African technology news and analysis delivered to your e-mail inbox every morning.

    Facebook X (Twitter) YouTube LinkedIn
    WhatsApp Facebook X (Twitter) LinkedIn YouTube
    TechCentralTechCentral
    • News

      War of words erupts over home affairs database fee hike

      24 June 2025

      Don’t expect Starlink in South Africa anytime soon

      24 June 2025

      Finally! Tribunal unpacks why it blocked Vodacom’s Vumatel deal

      24 June 2025

      Samsung to unveil new folding phones at July event

      24 June 2025

      Capital Appreciation banks on payments to offset software slump

      24 June 2025
    • World

      Mira Murati’s Thinking Machines hits $10-billion valuation

      24 June 2025

      Watch | Starship rocket explodes in setback to Musk’s Mars mission

      19 June 2025

      Trump Mobile dials into politics, profit and patriarchy

      17 June 2025

      Samsung plots health data hub to link users and doctors in real time

      17 June 2025

      Beijing’s chip champions blacklisted by Taiwan

      16 June 2025
    • In-depth

      Meta bets $72-billion on AI – and investors love it

      17 June 2025

      MultiChoice may unbundle SuperSport from DStv

      12 June 2025

      Grok promised bias-free chat. Then came the edits

      2 June 2025

      Digital fortress: We go inside JB5, Teraco’s giant new AI-ready data centre

      30 May 2025

      Sam Altman and Jony Ive’s big bet to out-Apple Apple

      22 May 2025
    • TCS

      TechCentral Nexus S0E3: Behind Takealot’s revenue surge

      23 June 2025

      TCS | South Africa’s Sociable wants to make social media social again

      23 June 2025

      TCS+ | AfriGIS’s Helen Hulett on how tech can help resolve South Africa’s water crisis

      18 June 2025

      TechCentral Nexus S0E2: South Africa’s digital battlefield

      16 June 2025

      TechCentral Nexus S0E1: Starlink, BEE and a new leader at Vodacom

      8 June 2025
    • Opinion

      South Africa pioneered drone laws a decade ago – now it must catch up

      17 June 2025

      AI and the future of ICT distribution

      16 June 2025

      Singapore soared – why can’t we? Lessons South Africa refuses to learn

      13 June 2025

      South Africa risks being left behind as stablecoins reshape global finance

      6 June 2025

      Beyond the box: why IT distribution depends on real partnerships

      2 June 2025
    • Company Hubs
      • Africa Data Centres
      • AfriGIS
      • Altron Digital Business
      • Altron Document Solutions
      • Altron Group
      • Arctic Wolf
      • AvertITD
      • Braintree
      • CallMiner
      • CambriLearn
      • CYBER1 Solutions
      • Digicloud Africa
      • Digimune
      • Domains.co.za
      • ESET
      • Euphoria Telecom
      • Incredible Business
      • iONLINE
      • Iris Network Systems
      • LSD Open
      • NEC XON
      • Network Platforms
      • Next DLP
      • Ovations
      • Paracon
      • Paratus
      • Q-KON
      • SevenC
      • SkyWire
      • Solid8 Technologies
      • Telit Cinterion
      • Tenable
      • Vertiv
      • Videri Digital
      • Wipro
      • Workday
    • Sections
      • AI and machine learning
      • Banking
      • Broadcasting and Media
      • Cloud services
      • Contact centres and CX
      • Cryptocurrencies
      • Education and skills
      • Electronics and hardware
      • Energy and sustainability
      • Enterprise software
      • Fintech
      • Information security
      • Internet and connectivity
      • Internet of Things
      • Investment
      • IT services
      • Lifestyle
      • Motoring
      • Public sector
      • Retail and e-commerce
      • Science
      • SMEs and start-ups
      • Social media
      • Talent and leadership
      • Telecoms
    • Events
    • Advertise
    TechCentralTechCentral
    Home » News » Future of the Space Station thrown into doubt by war

    Future of the Space Station thrown into doubt by war

    By The Conversation28 February 2022
    Twitter LinkedIn Facebook WhatsApp Email Telegram Copy Link
    News Alerts
    WhatsApp
    The International Space Station in 2018. Image: Nasa

    New US sanctions on Russia will encompass Russia’s space agency, Roscosmos, according to a speech US President Joe Biden gave last Thursday.

    In response to these sanctions, the head of Roscosmos on the same day posted a tweet saying, among other things, “If you block cooperation with us, who will save the ISS from an uncontrolled deorbit and fall into the US or Europe?”

    The International Space Station has often stayed above the fray of geopolitics. That position is under threat.

    Built and run by the US, Russia, Europe, Japan and Canada, the ISS has shown how countries can cooperate on major projects in space. The station has been continuously occupied for over 20 years and has hosted more than 250 people from 19 countries.

    The International Space Station is made of 16 different segments constructed by different countries

    The ISS represents a high point of cooperation in space exploration. But for the current crew of two Russians, four Americans and one German, things may be getting worrisome as tensions rise between the US and Russia.

    Several agreements and systems are in place to make sure that the space station can function smoothly while being run by five different space agencies. At the time of writing, were were no announcements of unusual actions aboard the station despite the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine. But the Russian government has brought the ISS into geopolitics before and is doing so again.

    What came to be known as the International Space Station was first conceived on Nasa drawing boards in the early 1980s. As costs rose past initial estimates, Nasa officials invited international partners from the European Space Agency, Canada and Japan to join the project.

    Dire straits

    When the Soviet Union collapsed at the end of the Cold War in the early 1990s, the Russian space programme found itself in dire straits, suffering from lack of funding and an exodus of engineers and program officials. To take advantage of Russian expertise in space stations and foster post-Cold War cooperation, the Nasa administrator at the time, Dan Goldin, convinced the Clinton administration to bring Russia into the programme that was rechristened the International Space Station.

    By 1998, just prior to the launch of the first modules, Russia, the US and the other international partners of the ISS entered into memorandums of understanding that spelled out how major decisions would be made and what kind of control each nation would have over various parts of the station.

    The body that governs the operation of the space station is the Multilateral Coordination Board. This board has representatives from each of the space agencies involved in the ISS and is chaired by the US. The board operates by consensus in making decisions on things like a code of conduct for ISS crews.

    Even among international partners who want to work together, consensus is not always possible. If this happens, either the chair of the board can make decisions on how to move forward or the issue can be elevated to the Nasa administrator and the head of the Russian space agency, Roscosmos.

    While the overall operations of the station are run by the Multilateral Coordination Board, things are more complicated when it comes to the modules themselves.

    Russia’s invasion of Ukraine could mean an early end for the ISS

    The International Space Station is made of 16 different segments constructed by different countries, including the US, Russia, Japan, Italy and the European Space Agency. Under the ISS agreements, each country maintains control over how its modules are used. This includes the Russian Zarya, which provides electricity and propulsion to the station, and Zvezda, which provides all of the station’s life support systems like oxygen production and water recycling.

    The result is that ISS modules are treated legally as if they are territorial extensions of their countries of origin. While all crew onboard can theoretically be in and use any of the modules, how they are used must be approved by each country.

    While the ISS has functioned under this structure remarkably well since its launch more than 20 years ago, there have been some disputes.

    When Russian forces annexed the Ukrainian territory of Crimea in 2014, the US imposed economic sanctions on Russia. As a result, Russian officials announced that they would no longer launch US astronauts to and from the space station beginning in 2020. Since Nasa had retired the space shuttle in 2011, the US was entirely dependent on Russian rockets to get astronauts to and from the ISS, and this threat could have meant the end of the American presence aboard the space station entirely.

    While Russia did not follow through on its threat and continued to transport US astronauts, the threat needed to be taken seriously. The situation today is quite different. The US has been relying on private SpaceX rockets to transport astronauts to and from the ISS. This makes potential Russian threats to launch access less meaningful.

    A concern is how the invasion will affect the remaining years of the space station

    But the invasion of Ukraine does seem to have upped the intensity of geopolitical manoeuvring involving the ISS.

    The new US sanctions are designed to “degrade their aerospace industry, including their space programme”. The tweet in response from Dmitry Rogozin, the head of Roscosmos, “explained” that Russian modules are key to moving the station when it needs to dodge space junk or adjust its orbit. He went on to say that Russia could either refuse to move the station when needed or even crash it into the US, Europe, India or China.

    Though dramatic, this is likely an idle threat due to both political consequences and the practical difficulty of getting Russian cosmonauts off the ISS safely. But a concern is how the invasion will affect the remaining years of the space station.

    In December 2021, the US announced its intention to extend operation of ISS operations from its planned end date of 2024 to 2030. Most ISS partners expressed support for the plan, but Russia will also need to agree to keep the ISS operating beyond 2024. Without Russia’s support, the station – and all of its scientific and cooperative achievements – may face an early end.

    The ISS has served as a prime example for how nations can cooperate with one another in an endeavour that has been relatively free from politics. Increasing tensions, threats and more aggressive Russian actions – including its recent test of anti-satellite weapons – are straining the realities of international cooperation in space going forward.The Conversation

    • Written by Wendy Whitman Cobb, professor of strategy and security studies, Air University
    • This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons licence


    International Space Station ISS Nasa Roscosmos
    Subscribe to TechCentral Subscribe to TechCentral
    Share. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Email Copy Link
    Previous ArticlePublic sector workers handed huge wages defeat in concourt
    Next Article Ukraine raises R200-million in crypto after crowdfunding appeal

    Related Posts

    Nasa astronauts head home on SpaceX capsule

    18 March 2025

    Why car companies like Toyota are turning to space

    14 February 2025

    Bookmarks | The number of new mobile internet users is stalling

    25 November 2024
    Company News

    Africa’s power industry bolsters digitalisation with Huawei

    25 June 2025

    Communication costs exploding? Telviva has a fix for UK-SA teams

    24 June 2025

    Section 18A deductions and BEE points – a strategic choice for business compliance in 2025

    24 June 2025
    Opinion

    South Africa pioneered drone laws a decade ago – now it must catch up

    17 June 2025

    AI and the future of ICT distribution

    16 June 2025

    Singapore soared – why can’t we? Lessons South Africa refuses to learn

    13 June 2025

    Subscribe to Updates

    Get the best South African technology news and analysis delivered to your e-mail inbox every morning.

    © 2009 - 2025 NewsCentral Media

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.