Russia threatens to leave International Space Station program over US sanctions: reports

[Elderberry]

Space.com by Elizabeth Howell 6/8/2021

Russia threatens to leave International Space Station program over US sanctions: reports

Russia's space chief is threatening to leave the International Space Station (ISS) program in 2025 unless the United States lifts sanctions against the Russian space sector.

"If the sanctions … remain and are not lifted in the near future, the issue of Russia's withdrawal from the ISS will be the responsibility of the American partners," Roscosmos Director General Dmitry Rogozin said during a Russian parliament hearing on Monday (June 7), according to NBC News.

"Either we work together, in which case the sanctions are lifted immediately, or we will not work together and we will deploy our own station," Rogozin added. Russia is about to launch a new docking module to the ISS this summer that could serve as the hub of an independent complex.

Rogozin also claimed that Russia cannot launch some satellites because the U.S. sanctions forbid his country from importing some microchips required for the Russian program, Reuters reported. (There is also a global shortage of microchips associated with manufacturing shutdowns amid the coronavirus pandemic.)

"We have more than enough rockets but nothing to launch them with," Rogozin said, according to Reuters. "We have spacecraft that are nearly assembled, but they lack one specific microchip set that we have no way of purchasing because of the sanctions."

More: https://www.space.com/russia-threatens-leave-international-space-station-program

[rustynail]

Any Muslims up there?

[Sled Dog]

So, let me get this straight.

Russia is complaining that they can't complete various spacecraft because the Americans are interdicting some specific microchip technology.

So, in a huff, they're threatening to abandon the ISS and build their own space station.

Can we assume that this new space station won't be using any of those microchips they're being denied now?

Or, if they can design their new space station without those microchips, doesn't that mean they could re-work their spacecraft now without that?

Oh, and since almost the entire ISS was built using US funds, where are the Russians going to get the money to build their next MIR?

[Cyber Liberty]

This is a non-story.  Shortbus Joe is already bending over for anything Putin wants.  He'll give them whatever they want, yesterday.