Russia to permanently stop launches from French Guiana space port

Russia wants to permanently stop using its launch pad at Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana, the head of Russian space agency Roscosmos, Dmitri Rogozin, said on Saturday.
"What do we need it for?" Rogozin said at a press conference in the Russian city Samara, according to Russian news agency TASS. "What use do we have for such an unreliable partner?"
The European Union and the United States imposed severe sanctions on Moscow, including on its space operations, after Russia invaded its neighbour Ukraine on February 24.
In response, Roscosmos cancelled further launches of its Soyuz rockets from the spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. Twenty-seven Soyuz spacecraft had launched there in 15 years of cooperation.
In recent years, space was an area where Russia and the West continued to cooperate, despite conflicts and political tensions.
Roscosmos will only carry out 20 launches this year instead of the 30 it had planned, Rogozin said. "But it's not so bad." Six launches of internet satellites from the OneWeb network using Russian space stations are to be cancelled, as are three launches of French observation satellites from Koruou.