The International Space Station (ISS) is a fully completed space laboratory whose in-orbit construction began in 1998 and officially ended on July 8, 2011. This year, Russia became a key player in space exploration. This was due to the critical reliance on Russian technology and logistical capabilities. Moscow knew this and took advantage of it. Now everything will change.
Although NASA stopped using Russian logistics with the advent of SpaceX, it was the war in Ukraine that foreshadowed a split between the countries.
The International Space Station is less dependent on Russia
On July 21, 2011, the US space shuttle program ended 135 manned missions and 30 years of space launches thanks to Atlantis. Since that day, no American platform (spacecraft and rocket) has been used to launch manned missions. Since then, no American platform (spacecraft and rocket) capable of launching manned missions has been operational.
Although China also had the technology, the US Congress blocks NASA from working with the Asian giant, so Russia has become a key ally in maintaining such important things as the International Space Station. And Russia took advantage of it.
As reported a few years ago, the Soyuz bill was getting bigger and bigger. The price of the space ticket rose from $21 million in 2008 to €90 million in October 2019. A few months later, SpaceX launched the first crew.
Break the monopoly
Crew Dragon’s $55 million voyage award made it the best option for Western space programs to become independent of Roscosmos, the Russian space agency. However, the pandemic has slowed (or even halted) the development of all of these programs.
The success of the first private manned mission to the space station, Axiom 1, a few days ago has shown that the alternative exists. We are now witnessing the key moment of this independence from the Russian services.
In early April, in response to Western sanctions over the invasion of Ukraine, Russia announced that it would suspend its cooperation with the International Space Station. Until then, the possibility of independence from Russia was just that, a possibility. Now it has become a necessity. Should the SpaceX program fail, the near future of the ISS would be in jeopardy.
crew 4
Today at 06:53 GMT, a Falcon 9 from Kennedy Space Center flew four astronauts in the Dragon Freedom capsule to the ISS. It’s also a historic mission: Jessica Watkins will be the first black woman to board the International Space Station. The four astronauts will join the current ISS crew. Docking is scheduled for tomorrow.
Conclusion: This launch marks the beginning of one of the greatest upheavals in near space: it will deprive Russia of the central role it once played in space exploration.
Launch of Falcon 9 and Dragon! pic.twitter.com/sfKAOpBtU6
—SpaceX (@SpaceX) April 27, 2022
It is important to emphasize that this break with Russia goes beyond just transporting passengers or sending materials to the space station. ESA was forced to suspend its Exomars mission precisely because cooperation with Russia was essential to its success.
By the way, the mission should start in September. As a result, the space race to control low Earth orbit, establish a permanent base on the moon, and even get to Mars is more complicated than ever.