Since the Kremlin launched its war on Ukraine in early 2022, cooperation with its Western allies on space has been dramatically scaled back.
The International Space Station will be retired shortly after 2030 and Russia has signaled it may desert the orbital outpost before that, while Roscomos pulled its engineers out of Europe’s spaceport in French Guiana after the war started, leaving expensive rockets behind.
However, space cooperation has become a key part of the Kremlin’s partnership with North Korea, and American intelligence has touted the possibility of Russia positioning a nuclear weapon in orbit. Russia is also a junior partner in China’s program to build a lunar base.
The ousted Borisov only replaced Dmitry Rogozin — a key Putin ally who sparred with Elon Musk on X — as director general of Roscosmos in 2022.
