Russia’s Ukraine invasion and space impacts: Live updates

New satellite photos show artillery firing on Kyiv

New satellite images taken by the WorldView-2 satellite operated by Maxar Technologies has captured views of artillery firing near Kyiv, Ukraine as Russian military forces continue their invasion on that country. Space.com contributor Elizabeth Howell has the full story here.

The new photos were taken on Friday, March 11, and show new views of the fighting and destruction caused by the ongoing war. 

Other satellite photos taken on Thursday, March 10, show the impacts of the war across other parts of Ukraine. Destroyed residential buildings and supermarkets were among the civilian targets destroyed in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. 

Two images in particular show views of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, which was taken over by Russian military forces early in the conflict. You can see those images below. 

Here’s what else that happened in recent days among the space industry as the effects of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine spread. 

• The Canadian space company MDA Corp. pledged this week to provide radar satellite imagery to Ukraine to aid the country’s defense against Russian attack. 
• Elon Musk’s SpaceX delivered more Starlink internet terminals to Ukraine to restore communications and connectivity. Musk pledged to send car power socket adapters  and solar-charging equipment in order to help keep the terminals powered where regular electricity is not available.
• Satellite photos have captured the devastation of Mariupol, Ukraine as the besieged city has been pummeled by Russian military forces in recent days.
• SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell spoke in a recent event to discuss how the company was able to provide Starlink terminals to Ukraine and activate service quickly. 

Satellite images show damage in Mariupol, Ukraine

New satellite images collected by Maxar Technologies on March 8 and 9 reveal severe damage to civilian structures in the besieged city of Mariupol, Ukraine, as well as the movements of armored vehicles elsewhere in the country. 

The new images, released Wednesday by Maxar, were taken by the company’s WorldView 2 and WorldView 3 Earth-observing satellites. Imaging of Ukraine from space has been difficult in recent days due to heavy cloud cover over the region, Maxar officials said.

The satellites observed Mariupol on March 9, revealing damage to grocery stores, residential buildings and other civilian structures, including a maternity ward. 

On Tuesday, the WorldView 3 satellite observed the region around Ukraine’s capital of Kyiv, showing the armored vehicles’ movements. 

You can see all of the images and read the full story here.

UK bans space exports to Russia

The United Kingdom on Wednesday banned all space-related exports to Russia as it tightened economic sanctions on the country following its invasion of Ukraine last month. 

The U.K’s Foreign Secretary Elizabeth Truss announced the space export sanctions alongside a more stringent sanctions related to aviation. 

“We will continue to support Ukraine diplomatically, economically and defensively in the face of Putin’s illegal invasion, and work to isolate Russia on the international stage,” Truss said in the statement.

Read the full story here.

NASA astronaut to return Russian spaceflight medal

Former NASA astronaut Scott Kelly said today that he will give back a Russian spaceflight medal he received “For Merit in Space Exploration” in protest of the country’s invasion of Ukraine. 

“Mr. Medvedev, I am returning to you the Russian medal ‘For Merit in Space Exploration,’ which you presented to me,” Kelly tweeted on Wednesday (in Russian; translation provided by Google). “Please give it to a Russian mother whose son died in this unjust war. I will mail the medal to the Russian embassy in Washington. Good luck.” 

He aimed the statement at Dmitry Medvedev, who currently serves as deputy chairman of Russia’s security council and was the nation’s president from 2008 to 2012 and its prime minister from 2012 to 2020. 

Kelly has been vocal on Twitter about his opposition to Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine and the country’s ongoing attacks. 

Kelly spent nearly a year in space in 2015 and 2016 alongside a Russian cosmonaut as part of a long-duration spaceflight experiment on the International Space Station.

Read the full story here from Spaceflight Editor Mike Wall.

Ukrainian flag headed to space

American billionaire Jared Isaacman and three crewmates will take the Ukrainian flag to space and back later this year on his Polaris Dawn mission, a private spaceflight to be launched by SpaceX, as a show of solidarity with the people of Ukraine. 

“We stand with Ukraine and its brave citizens and all those fighting for freedom across the world. The Polaris Dawn crew will take this flag to a place in space that still remains beyond the reach of tyranny,” program officials wrote in a Twitter statement.

Read the full story here. 

Isaacman, who financed last year’s Inspiration4 private spaceflight with SpaceX, has bought three more missions on SpaceX rockets that will launch over the next few years. They include a SpaceX Crew Dragon flight that will include the first-ever private spacewalk by the end of 2022, a second flight on a Dragon capsule and the first crewed flight on SpaceX’s new Starship spacecraft. All three missions are being flown under Isaacman’s Polaris Program.

CERN to stop future collaboration with Russia

The European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), the science agency that oversees the Large Hadron Collider, will not enter into future science collaboration with Russian scientists after a Ukrainian scientists requests a halt to any Russian science cooperation due to that country’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine. 

CERN made the announcement today (March 8) after a meeting of the CERN council. You can read the full story by Senior Writer Tereza Pultarova. Ukraine is a associate member of CERN while Russia is not a formal member of the organization.

“The 23 Member States of CERN condemn, in the strongest terms, the military invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation, and deplore the resulting loss of life and humanitarian impact,” CERN’s council said in a statement. “Deeply touched by the widespread and tragic consequences of the aggression, the CERN Management and personnel, as well as the scientific community in CERN’s Member States, are working to contribute to the humanitarian effort in Ukraine and to help the Ukrainian community at CERN.”

Russian space chief trades barbs with astronaut Scott Kelly

Dmitry Rogozin, the head of Russia’s Roscosmos space agency, traded Twitter barbs with former NASA astronaut Scott Kelly on Monday (March 7) amid the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine. 

Kelly, who spent nearly a year aboard the International Space Station in 2015 and 2016 and returned to Earth on a Russian Soyuz spacecraft, has been a vocal opponent of Russia’s actions in Ukraine. On Sunday (March 6), Kelly tweeted in Russian that the country’s recent covering up of international flags on a Soyuz rocket carrying commercial satellites was harming Russia’s space program. 

“Dimon, without those flags and the foreign exchange they bring in, your space program won’t be worth a damn,” Kelly wrote on Twitter. “Maybe you can find a job at McDonald’s if McDonald’s still exists in Russia.” 

Rogozin responded with an irate tweet that read: “Get off, you moron! Otherwise the death of the ISS will be on your conscience!” That tweet was soon deleted, and Kelly asked for an explanation. “Dimon, why did you delete this tweet? Don’t want everyone to see what kind of child you are?” Kelly fired back in a tweet on Monday.

Read the full story here.

— Tariq Malik

Space partnerships fray amid Russia’s Ukraine invasion

In the days since Russia invaded Ukraine, the effects of the unprovoked attack on Feb. 24 has already reached into space. 

A planned launch of a Russian Soyuz rocket on March 4 to deliver 36 OneWeb internet satellites into orbit was canceled after Russia demanded the United Kingdom government, which is a financial backer of OneWeb, divest its holdings in the company and offer assurance the satellites would not be used for military purposes. OneWeb responded by pulling its personnel from the Russian-led Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, where the mission was to launch from. The launch is on hold indefinitely. 

Russia’s federal space agency Roscosmos has also halted all Russian Soyuz launches from Europe’s spaceport in French Guiana, which are conducted by the French launch provider Arianespace. 

Germany’s space agency DLR has switched off a black hole-hunting instrument on a Russian satellite and halted science cooperation with Russia. DLR officials placed the eROSITA instrument in safe mode. It is riding on the Russian satellite Spectrum-Roentgen-Gamma.

Meanwhile, NASA and Roscosmos have both stated that operation of the International Space Station is continuing as usual. The station is currently home to four American astronauts with NASA, two Russian cosmonauts and one European astronauts. A new Russian crew of three cosmonauts will launch to the station later this month, with American astronaut Mark Vande Hei of NASA and two cosmonauts to return to Earth soon after on a Russian Soyuz spacecraft. — Tariq Malik and Chelsea Gohd

Here’s a roundup of the space impacts of Russia’s Ukraine invasion so far. 

• U.S. President Joe Biden stated that U.S. sanctions imposed in response to Russia’s incasion will degrade Russia’s space program.
• Satellite images continue to reveal details about the war and military activity, as it is seen from space.
• A compilation of satellite images.
• Images captured by Planet (formerly Planet Labs).
• A 3D video created from high-resolution images taken by Maxar Technologies’ WorldView-3 satellite. 
• Images from Maxar Technologies
• SpaceX CEO Elon Musk sent Starlink satellite internet equipment to Ukraine as Russian attacks damaged infrastructure and connectivity. 
• U.S. launch providers are reconsidering how they source their rocket components. For example: Northrop Grumman’s Antares rocket has a Ukrainian-built first stage that’s powered by two Russian-made engines.
• Despite the ongoing conflict, NASA stated that it will continue to work with Russian space agency Roscosmos as a partner on the International Space Station.