Part 2 of 2 Parts (Please read Part 1 first)
The U.S. must deploy all remaining soft-power tools it has left to discourage continued Russian aggression. Even if that means the loss of some important capabilities such as the ISS. As the world’s premier space-faring nation, U.S. navigation in space requires not just technical space positioning and timing, but also the application a moral compass.
The Biden Administration, and NASA Administrator and former Florida U.S. Senator Bill Nelson, may still believe in the promises of détente including the benefits to global security from space collaboration with Russia that were relevant back in the 1990s. Unfortunately, the Twenty First century is a much more dangerous and rapidly changing place than when Gorbachev tore down the Berlin Wall.
NASA might also argue that it needs at least five years and probably more like ten years to study the safe de-orbit of the station. Five years might be considered fast for a bureaucracy with respect to the speed of executing any major decision at a federal agency. However, this timeline ignores our obligation to national and international security during wartime.
It is time for harsh realities to trump bureaucratic delays. Russia has invaded Ukraine. It will not stop this aggression if it wins in Ukraine unless it suffers unacceptably consequences. There is no more time for NASA studies. NASA has emergency evacuation procedures for the ISS. The U.S. can be safely off the ISS in one year if Congress makes the politically difficult decision this Fall to deorbit the ISS.
NASA is the world’s dream factory that inspires and creates the best possible future for generations to come. Now, the U.S. Congress needs to help it break its dependency on Putin’s Russia for ISS operations.
At a fundamental level, common sense tells us that we should not be cooperating with a dictatorship determined to destroy our country and our way of life. By its own claims, Russia is at war with Western nations. It is a desperate aggressor state that is terrorizing the free citizens of Europe. We should not be working with Russia in space exploration.
The U.S. Congress must act immediately to direct a fast-track phase-out of collaboration with Russia on the ISS. A plan must be approved to safely deorbit the ISS by 2026. It is time to close the hatches, deorbit the ISS and move on to the Moon and Mars, without the Russians.
Even though the loss of the ISS will impact orbital research, other space stations are being operated or constructed. China has launched their own space station called the Tiangong space station. It is a permanently crewed station operated by the China Manned Space Agency. It orbits the earth at an altitude between two hundred and ten miles and two hundred and eighty miles. It was launched in the spring of 2021.
Vast is a California-based startup and one of the newest entrants in the world of privatized spaceflight. They plan to use a SpaceX rocket to launch the world’s first commercial space station which they call Haven-1. Vast is aiming for an August 2025 launch. Other companies, some collaborating with NASA, are also working to develop private space stations to replace the ISS.