Russia and China will hold talks about a future joint venture regarding the construction of lunar base
Russia and China plan to engage in a “detailed dialogue” about how to move forward with the construction of a base on the moon.
The Washington Examiner reported that Dmitry Rogozin, the chief executive of the Russian space agency Roscosmos, said, “Before the end of May, I plan to hold detailed dialogue with our Chinese colleagues on our cooperation in this direction.”
The expansion of Russia and China’s collaborative efforts in space indicate the strengthening of the two countries’ relationship as they continue to find themselves at odds with the U.S. and its Western allies.
In recent months, since Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his invasion of Ukraine, Russian and Western relations in space have deteriorated. In February, in response to Western sanctions on the Russian economy, the Russian government threatened to crash the International Space Station into the Earth by ceasing to provide the satellite with the propulsion technology and resources necessary to keep it in orbit. The saga concluded with the Russian government withdrawing its support from the International Space Station program so long as Western sanctions remained in place.
For years, even during the immediate aftermath of the Cold War, Russian cosmonauts and American astronauts worked side-by-side on the International Space Station, but the International Space Station serving as a symbol of geopolitical peace between a post-soviet Russia and the West may very well be at an end.
Despite this, Russia cosmonauts are currently still aboard the International Space Station and will continue conducting experiments on a timeline established by the Russian government.
Speaking with TASS, a state-owned Russian news agency, Rogozin said, “We should not hustle now declaring our stance and will carry on with our work within the timeframe set by the government, which is until 2024. A decision regarding the [International Space Station’s] future will depend to a great extent on the developing situation both in Russia and around it.”
A crew of European and American astronauts arrived at the International Space Station earlier this week as Russia cosmonauts conducted a spacewalk lasting 7 hours and 42 minutes. The Russia cosmonauts used the spacewalk as an opportunity to display the Soviet era “Victory Banner” that first flew in Berlin at the end of World War Two.
Dmitry Strugovets, a Roscosmos spokesman, said, “Cosmonaut Oleg Artemyev voiced an idea several days ago to spread the Victory Banner in the open space and wrote about it to the Roscosmos press office. His initiative was supported at all levels. No one remained indifferent.”
Elon Musk and SpaceX thwarted a Russian electromagnetic attack on Ukraine
SpaceX — a company founded and owned by Elon Musk with the express intention of colonizing Mars — successfully stopped a Russian electromagnetic attack in Ukraine.
In March, Musk’s company worked at a breakneck pace to shut down Russian efforts to disconnect Ukrainians from the internet by jamming the country’s access to its Starlink satellite constellation.
Starlink is operated by SpaceX and provides internet coverage to 32 countries. The constellation consists of more than 2,000 mass-produced small satellites that reside in low orbit and communicate with designated transceivers on the Earth’s surface.
At the outset of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, when it became clear that the Russian government was going to target the Ukrainian people’s ability to communicate, Ukrainian officials pleaded with Musk to intervene and provide them with relief.
Starlink service is now active in Ukraine. More terminals en route.— Elon Musk (@Elon Musk) 1645914834
Dave Tremper, director of electronic warfare for the Office of the Secretary of Defense, lauded SpaceX’s ability to turn on a dime and swiftly stymie Russia’s efforts to jam the Starlink satellite’s ability to provide broadband.
Defense News reported that Tremper said, “The next day [after reports about the Russian jamming effort hit the media], Starlink had slung a line of code and fixed it, and suddenly that [Russian jamming attack] was not effective anymore. From [the] EW technologist’s perspective, that is fantastic … and how they did that was eye-watering to me.”
Tremper noted that it would have taken the American government considerably longer to counteract the Russian electromagnetic attack than it did Musk’s company.
Tremper said, “We need to be able to have that agility. We need to be able to change our electromagnetic posture to be able to change, very dynamically, what we’re trying to do without losing capability along the way.”
Noting that electromagnetic warfare requires very finely tuned machinery and highly skilled operators, Tremper said the Russian invasion of Ukraine indicated how important it was to make sure that American personnel were properly trained in electromagnetic warfare operations.
He said, “It is a very hard problem, if you don’t have well-trained operators. The degree of coordination and synchronization of these types of operations is such that the undertrained operator will have a harder time pulling off those types of events successfully.”
This is not the only time that Elon Musk has thwarted the Russians’ plans in the ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
When the Russian government threatened to drop the International Space Station on the Earth by ceasing to provide it with resources and technology for propulsion, Musk said that he would keep the station from falling onto the planet.
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