Russia Ukraine Conflict Not Having Impact On NASA's Relationship With Russia, Yet

The invasion of Ukraine by Russia has led to U.S. sanctions on Russia and increased turmoil between the two countries.

While some companies are speaking out about their products and services in Russia, one partnership between the U.S. and Russia remains in place, and it’s out of this world.

What Happened: Russia and the United States have had a working relationship for space exploration for years, and the two countries are partners on the International Space Station.

NASA and Roscosmos, Russia’s state space corporation, jointly operate the ISS, which is an orbiting laboratory in space. The relationship between NASA and Roscosmos has existed for over three decades.

The two countries will remain in partnership despite sanctions against Russia.

The U.S. and Russia’s space programs have worked hand in hand throughout several world conflicts that involved Russia, including the 2014 invasion of Crimea.

Seven people are living on the ISS right now, including four NASA astronauts and two Russian astronauts.

“NASA continues working with the State Space Corporation Roscosmos and our other international partners in Canada, Europe and Japan to maintain safe and continuous International Space Station operations,” NASA spokesperson Josh Finch told The Verge.

Some space experts say there could be delays to space launches involving the ISS over the short term as the countries face pressure back on Earth. In 2014, during the time of Russia’s invasion of Crimea, travel to Russia was suspended for NASA workers and the leader of Roscosmos was sanctioned and not allowed to enter the U.S.

Related Link: How The Sports World Is Reacting To The Russia-Ukraine Conflict 

Why It’s Important: The U.S. and Russia have maintained a strong relationship on space operations. The U.S. could distance itself further from Russia during this invasion versus the 2014 incursion, thanks to the lessened reliance on Russia for rocket launches.

While the U.S. tried to distance itself in 2014 it still relied on Russia’s Soyuz rocket to get its astronauts to and from the International Space Station. Thanks to SpaceX, the company founded by Tesla Inc TSLA CEO Elon Musk, things could be different in 2022 and moving forward.

SpaceX launched two astronauts to the ISS in 2020 on its Crew Dragon.

One item that could face pressure is a planned crew swap between NASA and Roscosmos that would allow the other country’s astronauts to fly on passenger vehicles to space. The plan would see U.S. astronauts fly to space on future Soyuz rockets and Russian astronauts fly to space on the SpaceX Crew Dragon.

NASA confirmed that there are two Russian astronauts in Houston, Texas training with NASA and that two NASA astronauts completed training in Russia earlier this month for the planned crew swap.

NASA spends $3 to $4 billion on the ISS project every year. President Joe Biden announced plans to extend ISS operations through 2030. Roscosmos is in the midst of working on an extension for its work on the program.

Russia is planning to send an all-Russian crew to the ISS in March. A Crew Dragon mission to the ISS with American astronauts and at least one Russian astronaut is planned for Fall 2022.

Photo: Courtesy of nasa.gov