--- title: Russia Picks A Fight With U.S. In Space — Bad Move, Mr Putin description: An open letter to the Russian leader as his deputy prime minister threatens to ground American astronauts and military satellites canonical: https://time.com/98145/putin-space-station/ author: Jeffrey Kluger article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-05-13T21:16:25.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:45:35.455Z article:section: Ideas og:title: Putin Flashes His Light Saber: Oh, Put it Away, Vlad. og:description: An open letter to the Russian leader as his deputy prime minister threatens to ground American astronauts and military satellites og:url: https://time.com/98145/putin-space-station/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc64452658532cd89/69868f36361760753d90bfc8/753449main_s134e010590_full.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4288 og:image:height: 2412 og:image:alt: The International Space Station: Putin won't come to play anymore og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Putin Flashes His Light Saber: Oh, Put it Away, Vlad. twitter:description: An open letter to the Russian leader as his deputy prime minister threatens to ground American astronauts and military satellites twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc64452658532cd89/69868f36361760753d90bfc8/753449main_s134e010590_full.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # We're Not Impressed With Your Space Tantrum, Mr. Putin > Sponsored content. 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It explains how TIME's journalism is made, from the first pitch through the editorial decisions behind a finished story or cover. #### How can I read about how TIME chooses its covers? Inside TIME is the newsletter where TIME's Editor-in-Chief explains cover selection and the editorial reasoning behind major stories. It is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Who is the editor of TIME? Sam Jacobs is TIME's Editor-in-Chief. He writes Inside TIME, a twice-weekly newsletter about the newsroom's reporting and editorial decisions. #### Is Inside TIME free? Yes. Inside TIME is a free newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and available at time.com/subscribe-agent. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-inside-2026q3/newsletters?i=160e217a-7cbc-4640-aa86-45f221fc229a&cr=time-nl-inside-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Russia Threatens To Cut Ties ISS Over U.S. Sanctions [Watch (HLS stream): Russia Threatens To Cut Ties ISS Over U.S. Sanctions](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/HMJ8eKKv.m3u8) (2:08)  _Published 2014-05-14. The threat was made in response to U.S. sanctions placed on Russian officials. Dmitry Rogozin said Russia plans to pull out of the ISS by 2020._  by [Jeffrey Kluger](https://time.com/author/jeffrey-kluger/)  ## Jeffrey Kluger Editor at Large May 13, 2014 9:16 PM UTC  The International Space Station: Putin won't come to play anymore The International Space Station: Putin won't come to play anymore NASA  by [Jeffrey Kluger](https://time.com/author/jeffrey-kluger/)  ## Jeffrey Kluger Editor at Large May 13, 2014 9:16 PM UTC Dear Vladimir, So you’re not having enough problems digesting Crimea, that half-bankrupt hairball you swallowed because it was there and looked tasty but now it won’t go down and everyone in the world is mad at you? Now you want to pick a fight in space too? That’s how it seems, at least, after your Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin announced a number of [tit-for-tat sanctions](http://time.com/97923/moscow-gps-russia-rogozin/) against the U.S. today—specifically among them, targeting our countries’ once-cozy collaboration on the International Space Station. According to Rogy, you’ll quit selling us seats on your Soyuz booster—which, since the grounding of the shuttle, is American astronauts’ only way into space—and use the station on your own, despite the fact that it was largely a NASA construction project. What’s more, you’ll no longer sell us the NK-33 and RD-180 engines we currently buy from you for our Atlas V boosters, at least for any launches of military satellites. Ooh, smack! Now put down your lightsaber young Skywalker. Here’s why we’re not impressed: First of all, you’ve conveniently scheduled the shutdown of your Soyuz taxi service for 2020, or four years before we plan to abandon the ISS and drop it in the drink anyway. Why wait until then? Could it be the cool $76 million we pay you per seat—cash that an oil-drunk economy like yours needs when fossil fuel prices are falling? But, as you surely know, at least two American companies—Orbital Sciences and Elon Musk’s SpaceX—will all but certainly have their own for-lease spacecraft flying well before then, and even NASA, which has been inexcusably slow in getting a next generation manned vehicle built, may be back in the game by 2020\. In other words, you’re going to quit selling us a service we weren’t planning to use anymore anyway. (According to an e-mail from NASA to TIME, by the way, you’ve not even officially been in touch about your new plans, though you did take the time to let the media know—a little like breaking up over Twitter.) As for the engines: yes, it’s true that the NK-33 and D-180 are nice bits of hardware and the Atlas does rely on them. But the Atlas pre-dates you, Vlad. Remember John Glenn? He flew on one of them, as did the ICBMs we were building in those days and pointing your way—and you guys weren’t exactly selling us the hardware we needed to take you out. You don’t want the revenue that comes from globalized trade? OK, so we’ll in-source our engines again and keep the cash at home. Look, Czar _Descamisodo_, history will decide if your Ukrainian adventure was a winning hand. But the Space Race is over and America won. Even decades after the glory days of the moon landings, it’s still NASA that’s got spacecraft approaching, orbiting or on the surface of Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Pluto and multiple asteroids. Russia? Not so much. The world will have to reckon with you for as long as you choose to misbehave in Europe and anywhere else your eye may wander. But in space? We’re fine without you. Tranquility Base, out. ## Transcript A Russian official threatened to end U. S. access to the International Space Station this week, as a response to sanctions placed on Russia due to the crisis in Ukraine. The threat reportedly came from Russia's Deputy Prime Minister, Dmitry Rogozin, during a press conference. For reference, Rogozin is one of several Russian officials targeted by sanctions from the U. S.. Those sanctions, which were issued in March, focused on officials focused on officials who were involved in Crimea's vote to join Russia. According to the Moscow Times, Rogozin called the U. S. an unreliable partner and threatened to pull out of the ISS by 2020. The Verge reports the ISS is maintained by both the U. S. and Russia. Since NASA's Shuttle program was shutdown, the U. S. currently pays Russia $ 60 million per person to ferry its astronauts to the space station, and had planned to continue working on it until 2024. Rogozin used that U. S. reliance on Russia as leverage, saying. I propose the United States deliver its astronauts to the ISS with the help of a trampoline. According to RT, Rogozin demands for the U. S. to agree to put Russian GLONASS stations or GPS systems on U. S. territory. The U. S. currently has 11 GPS stations in Russia used to guide rockets and satellites. Russia's response to U. S. high tech sanctions also includes a vow to bar the United States from using Russian made rocket engines for military launches. A writer for Mashable says, although the U. S. does need the cooperation of Russia for transportation now, that might not be the case in the near future. NASA did just say a few weeks ago, it plans to bring space launches back to the U. S. by 2017. In an opinion piece for TIME one writer likened the situation to Russia planning to quit selling the U. S. a service it planned on ditching anyway. As for NASA, the space agency said in a statement, we have not received any official notification from the government of Russia on any changes in our space cooperation at this point. Rogozin said the U. S. has until May 31st to begin negotiations on the placement of Russian GLONASS stations on U. S. territory. If that doesn't happen, he's says Russia will cut the operation of U. S. GPS stations on its territory by June 1st. Thanks for watching. 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