Western Tensions With Russia And China Extend To Outer Space

Western Tensions With Russia And China Extend To Outer Space

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ESA has ended its cooperation with Russia on Mars over the Russian special operation in Ukraine.

Written by Uriel Araujo, researcher with a focus on international and ethnic conflicts.

In June, authorities from both the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the European Space Agency (ESA) met in an unprecedented virtual summit to discuss joint missions. Chinese and Russian authorities were not present. ESA’s Director General, Josef Aschbacher claimed that since the outbreak of the current Russian-Ukrainian conflict this year, “the world order has changed”.

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson had suggested American rockets be employed to speed the now suspended European ExoMars. It aimed to investigate the geochemical aspects of the Martian  landscapes in the search for forms of life or traces of it and to identify hazards for a future human mission to the planet. It also aimed to exploit solar electric power on the Martian surface and to access its subsurface, amongst other goals.

ESA and the formerly called Russian Federal Space Agency (now Roscosmos) signed a contract in August 2009, which included their cooperation on two Mars endeavors, Russia’s own Fobos-Grunt project and ESA’s ExoMars. Then, in December 2009, ESA also approved NASA’s participation in a Martian exploration mission. However, in 2012 NASA terminated its participation for budgetary reasons. In 2013, ESA and Roscosmos signed a deal thereby making Russia a full partner, with all scientific results becoming intellectual property of both the ESA itself and the Russian Academy of Sciences.

In 2016 the Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) was sent to map methane’s sources on Mars. A second launch had been planned, but since 2016, however, ExoMars has suffered a series of delays due to financial problems. The Roscosmos lander called Kazachok was supposed to deliver the ESA Rosalind Franklin rover to Mars, but the European agency suspended this mission over the issue of Ukraine in March. It now expects to resume these operations, in a new mission (yet to be named), without employing Russian landing platforms. This change however will postpone such plans, which are now expected to take place after 2028. ESA has frozen almost all liaisons with the Russian Federation.

The European Agency, though, has maintained its partnership with China since at least 2003, and Chinese and European cosmonauts had been training together. In 2017, ESA director Rudiger Seine stated that the agency’s goal was “flying European astronauts on the Chinese space station from 2022”. The problem is that today many voices are demanding that this collaboration be suspended too, over Beijing’s supposed “no limits” partnership with Moscow. It had been already interrupted anyway due to the pandemic and at this point it might never resume.

As of today, the European Parliament has imposed sanctions on Chinese authorities over human rights issues pertaining to the Muslim minority in China and Beijing, in turn, has responded sanctioning Europe’s own Subcommittee on Human Rights. The “redline” for the West seems to have been the perceived Chinese support for Moscow in the Ukrainian crisis.

ESA needs partners, and amid such tensions, it would only be natural for the agency and NASA to further strengthen their ties, under a common “universalist” Western narrative that focuses on “human rights”, “democracy”, and so on, in spite of the contradictions and the hypocrisy that such discourse veils, while the West covers up Ukrainian own human rights abuses and its blatant far-right extremism and neo-Nazism.

Interestingly, NASA and Roscosmos announced on Friday that integrated Russian-American flights to the International Space Station (ISS) will remain. This announcement was made shortly after the Russian agency Director General Dmitry Rogozin was replaced with Yuri Borisov. Rogozin had been in the middle of tensions with the US, over his denouncing of Elon Musk, the head of the American SpaceX, whom he accused of providing military communication for “fascist forces” in Ukraine. Rogozin’s replacement has been interpreted by some as a kind of Russian concession, in the spirit of dialogue and scientific cooperation.

Two weeks ago, Nelson had stated that “you need both Russians and Americans to operate the space station”. Even in March, at the beginning of the current war, he said, referring to the civilian space programme: “Despite all of that, up in space, we can have a cooperation with our Russian friends, our colleagues.”

This new development is quite surprising considering the fact that the US-led West has been seeking to “cancel” Russia in all realms of life (even arts and science) amid an intense russophobic campaign. It might be yet another sign that Washington still considers adopting a more conciliatory tone, as plan B or at least toys with the idea, trying to keep some channels open, in spite of the aggressive rhetoric and the lack of good diplomacy.

In any case, one should expect things to get tense in space too, even in “civilian” areas, as NATO’s new space doctrine recognizes outer space as a “new operational domain”, where it seeks to oppose Russia, China, North Korea and Iran. Moreover, there is now a space race over placing a base on the moon, with increasing Russian-Chinese collaboration. Emerging powers such as Turkey aspire to dominate space technology, and the new American Space Force uses its Gulf base to monitor Iran.

All civilian aspects of outer space exploration involve in fact highly strategic knowledge and applications. This realm could be understood as the “new sea”, with new continents to explore. Thus, the geopolitical and geoeconomic competition among powers that today encompasses earth and ocean should extend itself to the realm of space too, even extending to the celestial bodies.

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Donnchadh

I dont know why Russia is still willing to work with the USA- America= “Russia is our enemy ” what more does it take ?

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Last edited 2 years ago by Donnchadh
Russia Is Looking Like A Fool

The Pathetic Russians cant even Win on the Ground in Ukraine, yet alone in Space!

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F1 WERNT BUILT BY QUEERS:

You and your pathedic dud accounts mean shit,this story is fullovit anyway,musk/lgbtq going nowhere (period) UNDER AND OVER IT,RIGHT THROUGH YOUR TROLL ARMY SMOKESCREEN,POOF!

War

Why US and NATO can’t win in Afganistan?

Inquisition

The russians already wininig the War against nato faggot they don’t fight Ukraine they fighting 30 countries

Bigg Chungus

Factors affecting the future of American science and technology:

1. American students are lazy and do not understand the true cost of progress, as they have been raised at the peak of it.

2. Huge sums of student debt incentivize grade and credential inflation, which drives mediocrity in academia.

3. America imports large numbers of technical personnel, especially for basic research. Aerospace is still solidly American, however. But America’s position would be crippled in a deep financial downturn.

4. American academic institutions favor non-meritocratic factors to an alarming extent when assessing new candidates.

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Donnchadh

The pro west paid posters dont like America being put down and they have the help of Google ( re-captcha) I have proved it on another pro Russia website where Recaptcha doesn’t exist -no problem posting its only here I get blocked.

F1 WERNT BUILT BY QUEERS:

That is a troll army post based on lgbtq ideologists ill manner way of thinking,there are multiple accounts upvoting the most pathedic comment of this post to date,eu got nowhere in space!

Donnchadh

THANKS ! for the info.

Zelensky - a cuckold on roids and cocaine

Oh, so you proved something on some imaginative Russian web site that has no name or URL :D We have our own jens assholm!

Last edited 2 years ago by Zelensky - a cuckold on roids and cocaine
F1 WERNT BUILT BY QUEERS:

FULLOVIT FAKE X WANNABE DUMB KUN,FOR STARTERS USA AND EU ARE IN TATTERS,NASA AND RUSSIAN AEROSPACE SPECIALISTS WILL CONTINIUE TO FLY IN RUSSIAN SPACESHIPS,FK THE EU!

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Donnchadh

SF its not Google tracking service you want its a good anti-virus for the website to stop the hacking here.

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Obami Ashol

Maybe some day, with enough money, they might actually go to the Moon 🤣🤣😂

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JPJP

Oh boy ! What a facade. The ICC (interplanetary Corporate Conglomerate)exists since the 1950’s . The Germans( Fourth Reich, Dark Fleet) ) have bases on the moon since the beginning of the 50’s and bases on Mars since the late 50’s and several moons in this solar system. The US have developped their own SSP in the 70’s. There’s a lot more that the average person doesn’t know that’s going on right now on this solar system. I’m amazed how far they can go to hide all of this But at least Trump knew all about it and created the Space Force for a door to slowly let go some of the real infos concerning the moon/mars bases, the SSP and the technologies that can move the world to a leap of 50 years in the future for a better world.

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Assad Defeated Zionists

I heard Russian killer satellite are going after Elon musk’s toys.

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Yuri

if living in amerikan cesspool of ugliness outer space more appealing

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