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“This is a family, where a divorce within a station is not possible,” Dmitry Rogozin told CNN in his first interview with Western media since becoming CEO of Roscosmos.
“Either we are working together and the sanctions should be lifted immediately or we will not work together,” and Russia will deploy its own space station, Rogozin said in June, according to Russian public media TASS.
Now Rogozin seems to deny ever making such threats in front of the lower house of the Russian parliament.
“I think there is a problem with the interpretation. I probably didn’t say that,” Rogozin told CNN, speaking Russian. His words were translated by an interpreter hired by CNN.
“It’s just that we are talking about how we can continue our comradeship, our friendly relations with our American partners, as the United States government implements the sanctions against the same organizations that supply the International Space Station.”
Another test for the US-Russian space partnership
It’s a relationship that is being tested politically and in orbit.
“The equipment doesn’t break down on its own,” Rogozin said. “For 21 years we haven’t done anything like this. An older generation, who knew how to tie up a complex structure like this, have retired.”
The incident raised questions about the reliability of Roscosmos as NASA’s primary partner on the International Space Station. But now that the 23-ton Nauka – which adds Russian lab space and sleeping quarters – is there and functioning, Rogozin says it’s “the guarantee” that Russia will have the “technical capacity to operate the station. until such time as it reaches the end of its lifespan. “
The United States and Russia have been partners in space since the Apollo-Soyuz test project in 1975, when an American Apollo spacecraft docked with a Soviet Soyuz capsule, marking the end of the first space race.
“I think the cooperation with the Russians, which has existed since 1975, will continue,” NASA administrator Bill Nelson said at the Annual Space Symposium in Colorado Springs on August 25.
The United States has attempted to extend this partnership in space to the moon with NASA’s new Artemis program. But so far Russia has refused to participate.
“For this to happen, we are asking NASA for dignified conditions. We don’t want to be helpers or servants,” Rogozin said. “The main condition is equal rights when discussing issues and making joint decisions. This is what we have today on the International Space Station.”
A relationship with another country too
Rogozin insists that Russia wants to preserve its partnership in space with the United States. “We respect our partners in the United States,” Rogozin said. “We’re friends.”
But in June, Russia also announced plans to build a base on the moon with the world’s new superpower in space: China.
Republican Senator Jerry Moran of Kansas, a leading member of the Trade, Justice and Science Credit subcommittee, said actions spoke louder than words.
“Russia has sent a clear signal by forming an alliance with China for lunar exploration rather than continuing its historic partnership by joining the United States,” Moran said, speaking at the Space Symposium.
Pressed if Roscosmos is ready to potentially throw away this decades-long partnership with NASA, Rogozin was elusive.
“We are delighted that you see us as some kind of bride, who is trying to cheat on one groom and choose another, but that is not the situation as it appears,” Rogozin said.
Rogozin wants Roscosmos to partner in space with the United States and China. “If we can’t work with the United States – not because of our fault, and I think that can be changed – but if it doesn’t, in order to divide the responsibility, the risks, the money , we need, of course, another partner, ”Rogozin said.
Nelson plans to meet Rogozin, probably in Russia, later this year.
Asked to respond to Rogozin’s comments, Nelson said: “I look forward to continuing cooperation with Roscosmos on the International Space Station through 2030 and into the future.” But Nelson did not address the specific conditions demanded by Rogozin before Russia signed the Artemis program.
At the end of an almost hour-long interview, Rogozin said he had one last “big demand” for the United States to preserve this decades-long experience in space diplomacy.
“America is a great country. As a great country, it must be kind and sincere. It must offer conditions for its Russian partner, much smaller in terms of the size of its population and the size of its economy. these conditions will be worthy of us, we will accept it. The ball is in the hands of NASA, the hands of the United States now. “
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