Will war ground the space industry?

Russia and Ukraine are important nodes in the global space industry, nodes that have been disrupted by the recent war and the sanctions that followed. Launches have been cancelled, Mars rovers have been grounded, and engines have remained undelivered. Yet this East-West delinking might also provide a new impetus for growth.

Russia regularly sends both humans and satellites up on their Soyuz rockets. “Their expertise in human spaceflight is especially strong,” says Claude Rousseau, research director at Northern Sky Research, a space consultancy firm. Ukraine’s position is less important, yet the country has a sizable space industry. Elon Musk even declared that the Ukraine-designed Zenit rocket family was a personal favourite of his.

When Russia invaded its neighbour Ukraine on February 24, that not only disrupted the lives of millions on earth, it also nearly got someone stuck in space. Concerns arose that US astronaut Mark Vande Hei, who had just broken the record for longest human spaceflight, was stranded onboard the International Space Station (ISS). A Russian news report had suggested he wouldn’t be taken down on a Russian rocket as previously agreed, in response to heavy sanctions imposed on Russia. Eventually, Russia said it would honour its commitment, and Vande Hei is scheduled to return to earth on March 30.