With vicious fighting now occurring in the Donbass region of Ukraine three months into Russia’s violent invasion of Ukraine, Russia’s space agency and conglomerate, Roskosmos, showed no shame using its rockets to proclaim its political messaging. It has printed in large cyrillic type a single word: “Донбасс” (Donbass) – the main region Russia lays claim to – on the side of its Soyuz 2.1a rocket carrying a Progress MS-20 cargo carrying freighter spacecraft to the International Space Station (ISS).
While messages have been printed on the sides of rockets before, usually for national or commercial reasons (e.g. advertising), this is the first time that wartime propaganda has ever appeared on the side of a rocket. Many seasoned space observers are dismayed as the ISS is itself a symbol of peace and international cooperation. It is likely that NASA, ESA and the other international partners on the ISS will protest.
Comment by David Todd: This just reminds us all of the murderous invasion of Ukraine by Russia and of all the misery that it has caused. Shameful.
“Donbass” written on side of Soyuz 2-1a to carry Progress MS-20 to ISS. Courtesy: Roscomsos via NASAWatch/Twitter
