Space Matters
The Great Game for Space
Western Sanctions have hit ROSCOSMOS admits Director Rogozin
Russia’s former Deputy Prime Minister and current Director General of state space company, ROSCOSMOS,Dimitry Rogozin has spoken about the impact of western sanctions on Russia’s space activities. According to this TASS report, Rogozin was speaking at a State Duma (Russian Parliament) hearing. During the hearing, Rogozin said that ROSCOSMOS can’t launch some of their satellites because critical “microcircuits” that were to be used in them are now not available to Russia under the international sanctions regime. Western sanctions were first imposed in 2014 after Russia’s seizure of Crimea. They have proved disastrous to the Russian economy in general and to many key high-tech sectors in particular.
Prominent Russia watcher and academic Dr Maria Shagina said in a tweet that India was among the component suppliers and was meant to provide some chipsets for Russia’s GLONASS navigation satellite constellations. India has in recent years developed and deployed its own IRNSS/NavIC satellite navigation system and it is likely that India can supply components to Russia for a similar application. According to some old press reports, India and Russia have cooperated on GLONASS before. India has likely provided its infrastructure to launch some satellites in the constellation and provided real estate for setting up ground stations to support GLONASS.
Rogozin discusses ISS’s future with NASA’s Nelson; mentions sanctions
ROSCOSMOS Director General Dimitry Rogozin spoke to NASA’s newly appointed administrator Bill Nelson on the future of the International Space Station(ISS).
According to the press release issued by ROSCOSMOS during the conversation, Rogozin also mentioned the “sanctions introduced by the American administration against the enterprises of the Russian space industry” among other problems impacting Russia-US cooperation in space.
New Launches, Gear and Plans
China to Launch Astronauts to its Space Station Module onboard Shenzhou-12
According to this report in Space News, China is likely to launch a manned spacecraft mission, Shenzhou-12 soon. The mission will involve sending a crew to the recently deployed core module of China’s orbital space station Tianhe, the launch vehicle for the mission is likely to be a Long March 2F. The exact date is not yet confirmed but from the visible preparation and activity at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Mongolia, it is likely to be launched in about a week.
Space in Media
Gravity(2013) has one of the most unsettling depictions of space walks and dramatically depicts the dangers of debris in space, Gravity is a thriller with great production value and narrative. Even after seven years it lives up to the critical acclaim it received for its stunning visuals and use of computer generated imagery(CGI).