I was listening to BBC Inside science show today and they were talking about how the invasion of Ukraine and subsequent sanctions against Russia have thrown a massive spanner in the general space science schedule. Pretty much everyone uses some spares or components from everyone else, so pretty much nobody can launch rockets without bits from both the US and Russia. As a result a lot of stuff is being postponed or rescheduled because people are having to ration spares just in case.
Slightly worrying is the ISS. The crew live in a part thatâs essentially owned by the Americans, but the thrusters they use to reset the orbit (the ISS is basically in a slightly decaying orbit so every so often they have to use thrust to climb a bit further back out) are Russian. Right now theyâre fine, and the ISS staff are likely to take a âpragmaticâ approach to any political stuff, but if/when those thrusters need maintenance/ replacement parts things could get awkward down on the ground.
