Russia, the long-term US partner in space, is heading to China for its monthly ambitions.
Why does it matter: The United States and Russia have been troubled partners in orbit for decades, but as the two move further apart in space, their rupture could reshape the geopolitical landscape above Earth – and on it – for years to come.
- “We will not see the same level of cooperation between the United States and Russia compared to what we saw in the 1990s … when Russia was shattered, going through an economic catastrophe after the collapse of the Soviet bloc and desperate,” he told me. space policy expert Bleddyn Bowen.
News management: Last week, China and Russia signed an agreement to work together to develop a lunar orbiting moon research station, allying Russia with a nation that many see as opposed to US interests in space.
- The memorandum of understanding comes after Russia refused to sign NASA’s Artemis Agreements governing international cooperation and the use of the Moon and after a Russian official criticized NASA’s plans to build a small space station in lunar orbit.
- Russia was initially expected to provide an airlock for the small monthly space station, which is part of NASA’s plans to land people on the moon, but now “NASA will look for other options for the airlock provider,” NASA said in a statement. . .
The story behind it: US-Russia space relations began to deteriorate in the early 2010s, when Russia annexed Crimea.
- The two countries’ space programs have made them speak through the International Space Station, but since then, Russia’s public position toward the United States on space issues has changed, experts say.
- “I saw a marked change in the way Russians interacted in multilateral space forums,” Brian Weeden of the Secure World Foundation told me. There was “a significant increase in the hostility of their language against almost everything the US was proposing.”
Intrigue: China’s program and space industry are booming, with government support and a long-term vision of what the nation hopes to achieve. Russia’s star, on the other hand, is disappearing.
- Russia loses a significant source of revenue as SpaceX flies astronauts to the space station, ending NASA’s dependence on the Russian-made Soyuz rocket.
- This partnership with China will allow Russia to work with a growing nation when it comes to space, while China will take advantage of the technical understanding established by Russia.
Just as important, if not more, the two powers together will have a geopolitical weight in shaping international space policy.
- As Europe, Canada, Japan and others are already working with the US on its monthly plans, this partnership between Russia and China could benefit from support from other nations if the two nations decide they want partners.
What to look for: It is unclear how high the priority the Russia-China monthly research station will be as China works to build its own space station orbiting Earth in the coming years.
- The division of labor for the two nations has not been established and there is still no clear source of funding announced.
- And experts say the door is not necessarily closed for the US and Russia to partner in space in the future.