The Russian space agency Roscosmos announced on Saturday suspending its space launches from Kourou and recalling its technical staff - 87 people in total - in reaction to European Union sanctions against Russia after the invasion of Ukraine. .
The CNES (National Center for Space Studies), in charge of managing the European space base in Kourou, "has implemented the procedures allowing a rapid, safe and supervised departure of the Russian engineers and technicians present", he writes. in a press release.
Since 2011, the Guiana Space Center has hosted the Russian Soyuz launcher, as part of an intergovernmental agreement.
For 2022, three launches were planned with this rocket: two for the European navigation constellation Galileo, one for the French spy satellite CSO-3.
According to CNES, "the imminent arrival of the new Vega-C and Ariane 6 launchers on the market makes it possible to consider rescheduling European institutional launches", to allow an alternative to Soyuz.
The space agency says it is evaluating "with the greatest rigor" the repercussions of the Ukrainian crisis on space cooperation programs with Russia.
"Although having decreased sharply in recent years, some bilateral joint scientific programs are still in progress, particularly in the field of space medicine on board the International Space Station (ISS)", recalls the CNES.
"Concerning the projects carried out within the framework of the ESA (European Space Agency), the operations of the ISS are continuing with the involvement of all the partners of the station", he adds.
On Monday, the ESA announced that the launch of the Russian-European space mission ExoMars in September 2022 was made "very unlikely" by the Ukraine crisis.
© 2022 AFP