Russian space is losing momentum
A Russian Soyuz spacecraft, with the first Belarusian cosmonaut in history on board, Marina Vassilevskaïa, successfully took off on Saturday March 23 towards the ISS, the international space station, from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The flight was postponed by a few days when the rocket was already on the launch pad. This postponement represents a new setback for the Russian space sector which has been struggling for years due in particular to a lack of funding.
The Soyuz rocket launched to the International Space Station on Saturday March 23, 2024, at the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan. AP - Bill Ingalls
By: RFI Follow
Advertisement
Read more
The reason for the delay in the takeoff of this Soyuz spacecraft is officially linked to a “
drop in voltage of the chemical current source
”. Three other vehicles attached to the Russian segment of the ISS have suffered damage in recent months: coolant leaks which created very slight pressure drops in the orbital complex. Last August, the first Russian probe sent to the Moon crashed on the lunar ground.
It is above all a lack of financing which handicaps the
Russian
space program which has long been supported by training, expertise and Soviet technology, which is now aging. Lack of innovation but also an isolation of Russia on the international scene since the invasion of Ukraine which makes the Russian space program a collateral victim of Western economic sanctions.
These setbacks have not reduced the ambitions of Russia, which has announced that it wants to end its participation in the ISS after 2024 to concentrate on the construction of its own space station.
Also read Space: an encouraging third test for SpaceX's megarocket
Newsletter
Receive all the international news directly in your inbox
I subscribe
Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application
Share :
Continue reading on the same themes:
Space
Russia