Russia responds to European astronauts: We’ll give you independent spaceflight

Enlarge / Russia President Vladimir Putin and Roscosmos chief Dmitry Rogozin shake hands during a meeting at the Konstantin Palace. (credit: Mikhail MetzelTASS via Getty Images)

Last week, European astronauts issued a call for the continent to develop its own independent means of launching humans into space. As part of their reasoning, the astronauts said that Europe should not depend on other countries or private companies for human access to space because there are "no guarantees that our needs and values will be a priority" for the transportation provider.

Essentially, the astronauts feel that Europe's human spaceflight program should not be subject to the whims of others. "Power is the capability and the capacity to act: only then, as fully fledged global partners, we will have a seat at the decision-making table," they wrote.

The leader of Russia's space program, Dmitry Rogozin, decided to offer a solution. In a series of three tweets, Rogozin suggested that Europe should use the venerable Soyuz rocket and spacecraft to get its astronauts into space. The vehicle, he said, might launch from Europe's spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, much as another variant of the Soyuz rocket already does for cargo missions.

Read 9 remaining paragraphs | Comments