Russia to ban US from using International Space Station amid Ukraine crisis

In retaliation to the US sanctions issued against Russia for its involvement in the Ukraine crisis, the country has decided to ban US from using the International Space Station beyond 2020.

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin told reporters on Tuesday that Moscow would also keep the US from using Russian-made rocket engines to launch military satellites, Mashable reported.

Rogozin said that the Russian segment can exist independently from the American one.

However, NASA said that it is not aware of any such changes.

A NASA spokesperson said that ongoing operations on the ISS continue on a normal basis with a planned return of crew tonight and expected launch of a new crew in the next few weeks.

The spokesperson added that it has not received any official notification from the Government of Russia on any changes in its space cooperation at this point.