The head of Russia's space program said today that NASA 's plans to send humans back to the Moon are "too focused on U.S. beliefs about space" for Russia to participate . He has criticized the program in the past and now says Russia is open to participation only if the Moon plans were more focused on international cooperation.
“The point here is to base this program on the principles of international space cooperation that we have all used” to get the ISS above us today, said Dmitry Rogozin, general director of Roscosmos, adding: “If we could return to the possibility of making these principles the foundation of the program, then the Russian space agency could reconsider its participation.”
Rogozin has made it clear that he is not a fan of NASA's Moon program, an initiative called Artemis that aims to send the first woman to the lunar surface. Part of the program's design calls for the construction of a space station around the Moon, known as the Lunar Gateway, which would serve as an orbiting outpost for astronauts to visit before descending to the lunar surface.
NASA has already collaborated with some international organizations on the Artemis project – most notably Canada and Europe – but the U.S. space agency is leading almost all of the program's core efforts, including the rockets, capsules, landers and modules needed for the space station.
“For the United States, this is now a political project,” Rogozin told a Russian tabloid in July. “With the lunar program, we are observing the departure of our American partners from the principles of cooperation and mutual support that were developed during the cooperation on the ISS. They see their program not as international, but similar to that of NATO. In America’s plans, everyone else must help and pay for them. To be honest, we are not interested in participating in such a project.”
Rogozin also expressed disdain for NASA’s Artemis Accords, a set of guidelines developed by the space agency and the U.S. State Department for countries to follow when exploring the Moon. The guidelines are a formal set of rules about how to mine on the Moon and what places on the lunar surface should be protected, such as Apollo landing sites. Rogozin likened the guidelines to “invasion” in a now-deleted tweet
Today, Rogozin made further comments about the Artemis project. “In our view, the Lunar Gateway in its current form is very U.S.-centric,” he said during the press conference, noting that Russia “is likely not going to participate to a large extent.” However, Rogozin said he hopes the gateway will have some designated space that would allow future Russian spacecraft to reach the station if necessary. “If Russia builds its own space transportation system, we should have the opportunity to visit the Lunar Gateway,” Rogozin said.
Following that speech, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said Artemis will use the same legal framework developed for the International Space Station to operate the Gateway. “The ISS not only has advanced technology, it has helped us learn how to effectively collaborate with a variety of cultures and countries in space,” Bridenstine said. “That’s why we’re using the Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA), which is the same legal framework as the ISS, for the Gateway.”
As for Rogozin's comments, Bridenstine said that he agrees on establishing common standards. «Through existing agreements, the U.S. actively asks all partner nations participating in the Artemis mission to focus on common standards that will not only include the deployment of the station in other countries, but also the formatting and transfer of data, communications, navigation, environmental control and life support in space, and many other critical systems and functions», Bridenstine said.
Bridenstine told Reuters in July that he believes NASA and Roscosmos will continue to work together. “I have a good relationship with Dmitry Rogozin, so I hope there are opportunities for us to continue to work together.”
