What was once an ill-conceived plan to save money via budget reductions had left America reliant upon the Soviets, and now the true cost is being paid.
Russia is to deny the US future use of the International Space Station beyond 2020 and will also bar its rocket engines from launching US military satellites as it hits back at American sanctions imposed over Ukraine crisis.
Russia’s deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin announced a series of punitive measures on Tuesday against the US in response to sanctions imposed after Russia annexed Crimea.
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The Space Station is manned by both American and Russian crew, but the only way to reach it is by using Russia’s Soyuz spacecraft.
The US is keen to keep the $100 billion (£600) ISS flying until at least 2024, four years beyond its original target.
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He suggested Russia could use the station without the United States, saying: “The Russian segment can exist independently from the American one. The U.S. one cannot.”
The US space agency NASA is working with companies to develop space taxis with the goal of restoring US transport to the station by 2017, but the United States currently pays Russia more than $60 million per person to fly its astronauts up.
Mr Rogozin said Russia will suspend the operation of 11 GPS sites on its territory from June and seek talks with Washington on opening similar sites in the United States for Russia’s own satellite navigation system, Glonass.
He threatened the permanent closure of the GPS sites in Russia if that is not agreed by September.
Full article: Russia to ban US from using Space Station over Ukraine sanctions (The Telegraph)
Global Geopolitics 