yuri borisov

Russia’s Soyuz rockets were used to launch OneWeb satellites from French Guinea. Photo: Roscosmos (AP)The Russian space agency may be willing to return 36 satellites it’s been keeping hostage in Kazakhstan in exchange for parts of its Soyuz rockets that are being held in French Guinea. According to a report by Russian Space Web, French aerospace company Arianespace might be looking into a deal with Roscosmos to swap components of the Russian Soyuz rocket for 36 OneWeb satellites that have been held at its Kazakhstan…

The European Space Agency (ESA) has begun preliminary technical discussions with Elon Musk's SpaceX that could lead to the temporary use of its launchers after the Ukraine conflict blocked Western access to Russia's Soyuz rockets. The private American competitor to Europe's Arianespace has emerged as a key contender to plug a temporary gap alongside Japan and India, but final decisions depend on the still unresolved timetable for Europe's delayed Ariane 6 rocket. "I would say there are two and a half options that we're…

The country's new space chief said Russia will pull out of the International Space Station after 2024 and focus on building its own orbiting outpost, amid high tensions between Moscow and the West over the fighting in Ukraine. The announcement, while not unexpected, throws into question the future of the 24-year-old space station, with experts saying it would be extremely difficult - perhaps a "nightmare," by one reckoning - to keep it running without the Russians. NASA and its partners had hoped to continue operating it…