International scientific and technical cooperation with Russia's participation in the space sphere under sanctions: results and prospects

Abstract

The article analyzes the anti-Russian sanctions regime imposed by Europe and the United States in the field of space cooperation. As a result, space became involved in a geopolitical confrontation, which was not observed during the Cold War. The purpose of the article is to understand the features and consequences of the sanctions regime in relation to international scientific and economic cooperation with Russia's participation in the space sphere. The article claims that the sanctions regime in the space sphere of international cooperation is characterized by specifics. It consists in supplementing Western sanctions with measures that Russia has taken on its part to withdraw from some international scientific and technical projects. Special attention was paid to the study of the negative consequences of sanctions, which consist in complicating the synergy of efforts so necessary to make a cardinal breakthrough in the space sphere in the interests of all mankind. General scientific methods of analysis and synthesis, abstraction and generalization were used. This made it possible to move from diverse empirical data to theoretical generalizations about the nature and models of sanctions regimes against the Russian space industry and space science. In addition to this, a comparative approach was used, as well as a modeling method and a forecasting method. The novelty of the study lies in the fact that in it the event analysis of the confrontation in the context of the "sanctions – counter-sanctions" bundle is built in the context of the theory of sanctions in the field of science and technology. In addition, the problems of Western sanctions in relation to Russia's participation in international cooperation are shown against the background of an objective trend of fragmentation of international cooperation in the field of space. The main conclusion of the work is the position on the radicalism of Europe in severing ties with Russia and the cautious approach of the United States. It is demonstrated that considering the current situation through the prism of the concept of scientific and technical isolation of Russia in the space sphere is an exaggeration. The study showed that the damage caused by sanctions and counter-sanctions in relation to the Russian space industry, as well as in relation to world cosmonautics and space science is not catastrophic. At the same time, the current situation stimulates Russia's proactive scientific and technical policy at the national and international levels.