12 jul 2022 om 20:58 | Update: 8 uur geleden
The Russian space organization Roscosmos stops using the meter-long robot arm that was made in the Netherlands at the ISS space station. Roscosmos director Dmitry Rogozin will order this, Russian media report.
By: our news editorsThe robotic arm is installed on the Russian module of the ISS, the station that Russia, Europe, the United States and Japan jointly manage.
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Roscosmos announced in April that it would withdraw from the ISS due to Western sanctions, but Russia will still fulfill its obligations for another year. Among other things, Russia supplies fuel for the ISS and helps to keep the space station in orbit and prevent collisions with space debris.
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The 11-meter-long robotic arm arrived at its new destination in July last year, where it will support spacewalks, inspections and scientific experiments, among other things. Work on the European Robotic Arm (ERA) began in the 1980s, but plans were changed several times and launches were delayed again and again.
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The development and construction of the arm cost approximately 360 million euros. The Netherlands contributed about 240 million euros.
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