Russia suspends Soyuz rocket launches over European sanctions [View all]

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

Source: The Verge

Russian space agency Roscosmos has announced that it’s temporarily halting Soyuz rocket launches in French Guiana due to sanctions imposed by the European Union, according to a report by Space.com.

“Roscosmos is suspending cooperation with European partners in organizing space launches from the Kourou Cosmodrome and withdrawing its personnel, including the consolidated launch crew, from French Guiana,” a translated tweet from the agency reads on Twitter. Roscosmos says it’s working on a plan to withdraw all 87 of its staff from the Guiana Space Center in Kourou, who assisted with Soyuz rocket launches for Roscosmos and other Russian companies.

Link to tweet

As Space.com points out, European launch provider Arianespace uses Roscosmo’s Soyuz rockets to launch satellites from French Guiana and the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Arianespace was on track to launch two Galileo satellites into orbit using a Soyuz rocket in April, however, that will likely be pushed back due to growing tensions among nations. The US and Europe have put a slew of sanctions on Russia since its invasion into Ukraine, and have also moved to exclude some Russian banks from SWIFT.

“I confirm that this decision has no consequences on the continuity and quality of the Galileo and Copernicus services,” Thierry Breton, the European Commissioner for Space said in a statement. “Nor does this decision put the continued development of these infrastructures at risk.”



Read more: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/russia-suspends-soyuz-rocket-launches-over-european-sanctions/ar-AAUm4NH

---