Nato and US Embargo, Russia Continues to Help ISS Send Robotic Cargo Missions

Russian President Vladimir Putin

Moscow - Russia launched a new robotic cargo mission to the International Space Station (ISS) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, Friday, June 3, 2022. Russia continues to demonstrate its commitment to launching supplies of various ISS needs, even though since the war Ukraine has been subject to sanctions from NATO and the United States ( US).

Russia launched the Progress 81 cargo ship on a Soyuz rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 2:32 p.m. local time. It was the first cargo launch by Russia since the outbreak of war with western-backed Ukraine. "It was a perfect launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome," NASA spokeswoman Sandra Jones said during a live broadcast of the launch from the agency's Mission Control center in Houston.

Progress 81 carried 5,551 pounds of supplies for the seven-person crew (astronauts) of Expedition 67 on the International Space Station. “Supplies included about 3,214 pounds of dry cargo such as food, clothing and supplies; 1,323 pounds of propellant, 926 pounds of water and 80 pounds of nitrogen," Jones said. This launch is a continuation of the launch of the previous Russian cargo ship Progress 79 from the space station.

The Progress 79 cargo plane left the ISS on Wednesday June 2, 2022 and returned to Earth carrying a lot of trash and unneeded items. Russia's Progress 81 cargo ship is seen against a bright blue Earth background as it approaches the International Space Station during a docking operation on June 3, 2022. Photo/NASA TV/Space.com

The launch of the Progress 81 cargo plane will be followed by another cargo flight, namely SpaceX's CRS 25 robotic mission, scheduled for launch Friday 10 June 2022. It is understood the ISS was recently visited by Boeing's Starliner unmanned spacecraft, which carried out a test flight and orbit of 19 May to May 25, 2022.

Russia Russia remains a partner in the International Space Station (ISS) program despite the war with Ukraine. The head of the Russian Space Agency (Roscosmos) Dmitry Rogozin has repeatedly threatened to leave the cooperation program on the ISS, which is a collaboration of five different space agencies and 15 countries.

It was shown in late March, just weeks after Russia's attack on Ukraine on February 24, 2022, that Roscosmos brought back NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei to Earth on a schedule agreed with the Soyuz spacecraft. The landing followed the launch of three cosmonauts to the station as part of Expeditions 66 and 67 missions.