Russia moves to prohibit the U.S. from using the ISS in 2020

Bill Ingalls/NASA/Getty Images

Russia's ongoing feud with the United States has hit new heights — literally. In retaliation for the sanctions the U.S. imposed on Russia during the Ukraine crisis, the country said it won't allow the U.S. use the International Space Station after 2020.

 

The measures, which were announced today by Russia's deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, also prohibit the U.S. from using the ISS's rocket engines to launch new satellites. Although the space station is manned by a Russian and American crew, the only way to reach it is by using Russia's Soyuz spaceships.

 

The U.S. had hoped to keep the aging ISS floating until 2024. Rogozin said after 2020, Russia will likely pull its money from the space station and move it to a "project with more prospects." Rogozin also slammed NASA for drastically scaling back its space exploration projects in recent years. "The Russian segment can exist independently from the American one," he said. "The U.S. one cannot."

- - Jordan Valinsky

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