Russian astronaut kicked out of the U.S. for stealing proprietary SpaceX designs
A Russian astronaut scheduled to fly on the next upcoming Dragon mission to ISS as part of the barter agreement between NASA and Roscosmos, has been removed from that mission after being caught taking pictures of SpaceX equipment in violation of State Department ITAR regulations.
Russian cosmonaut Oleg Artemyev has been removed from the prime crew of SpaceX’s Crew-12 mission to the International Space Station and replaced by fellow Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev after sources alleged he photographed confidential SpaceX materials in California in violation of US export control rules, according to The Insider on December 2.
The outlet reported that Trishkin also said NASA did not want the controversy around Artemyev to become public, while Artemyev was removed from training at SpaceX’s Hawthorne California, facility last week after allegedly photographing SpaceX engines and other internal materials on his phone and taking them off-site.
The sources for this story all come from within Russia but it appears the story is true. It now appears that when the next manned Dragon launches to ISS in February, Fedyaev will fly instead of Artemyev.
The irony of this is that Russia doesn’t really have the capability of developing a comparable SpaceX rocket using this information. If anything, it would be more likely for Russia to sell the information to China in exchange for military hardware it could use in the Ukraine.
Either way, this violation by Artemyev of ITAR does not speak well for the future of the U.S./Russian partnership in space. It will certainly continue until ISS is retired, but this incident cements the likelihood that it will then end. None of the American commercial stations have shown any interest in signing agreemennts with Russia, though they all have signed numerous international deals, some with former Soviet bloc nations and even former Soviet provinces. After ISS Russia will be on its own.
And based on its inability to develop anything new in the past three decades, don’t expect much from it in space.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The print edition can be purchased at Amazon or from any other book seller. If you want an autographed copy the price is $60 for the hardback and $45 for the paperback, plus $8 shipping for each. Go here for purchasing details. The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
A Russian astronaut scheduled to fly on the next upcoming Dragon mission to ISS as part of the barter agreement between NASA and Roscosmos, has been removed from that mission after being caught taking pictures of SpaceX equipment in violation of State Department ITAR regulations.
Russian cosmonaut Oleg Artemyev has been removed from the prime crew of SpaceX’s Crew-12 mission to the International Space Station and replaced by fellow Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev after sources alleged he photographed confidential SpaceX materials in California in violation of US export control rules, according to The Insider on December 2.
The outlet reported that Trishkin also said NASA did not want the controversy around Artemyev to become public, while Artemyev was removed from training at SpaceX’s Hawthorne California, facility last week after allegedly photographing SpaceX engines and other internal materials on his phone and taking them off-site.
The sources for this story all come from within Russia but it appears the story is true. It now appears that when the next manned Dragon launches to ISS in February, Fedyaev will fly instead of Artemyev.
The irony of this is that Russia doesn’t really have the capability of developing a comparable SpaceX rocket using this information. If anything, it would be more likely for Russia to sell the information to China in exchange for military hardware it could use in the Ukraine.
Either way, this violation by Artemyev of ITAR does not speak well for the future of the U.S./Russian partnership in space. It will certainly continue until ISS is retired, but this incident cements the likelihood that it will then end. None of the American commercial stations have shown any interest in signing agreemennts with Russia, though they all have signed numerous international deals, some with former Soviet bloc nations and even former Soviet provinces. After ISS Russia will be on its own.
And based on its inability to develop anything new in the past three decades, don’t expect much from it in space.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The print edition can be purchased at Amazon or from any other book seller. If you want an autographed copy the price is $60 for the hardback and $45 for the paperback, plus $8 shipping for each. Go here for purchasing details. The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
War Room Scene with Russian Ambassador
Dr. Strangelove (1964)
https://youtu.be/3Y3Rrvh3FwE
1:53
“Lousy commie-rat was taking pictures with this thing, of the Big Board!”
We don’t know much yet about just what Artemyev recorded or why he did so, but for the moment I think I’d be surprised to learn that anyone at Roscosmos was behind this, Dmitri Rogozin’s circus act notwithstanding, by all accounts the relationship between NASA’s ISS team and their counterparts at Roscosmos is cordial and respectful. I think the latter knows better than anyone how much they are dependent on NASA and its contractors to keep their manned space program going. Why jeopardize all that on a risky amateur espionage stunt for some images and documents that are unlikely to be of more than marginal value to them?
OTOH, I could see Artemyev looking to make some money off it personally (Roscosmos doesn’t exactly pay well); or perhaps some additional political credit in Moscow (he is a member of the United Russia party and on the Moscow city Duma). Even expulsion for unsuccessful espionage might make him look good in certain circles there. He definitely seems to have some political ambitions.
Just the same, I expect that at minimum SpaceX will be tightening the security around all future Russian cosmonauts on their Crew Dragon training activity.
China has a bounty on ALL technical information its citizens can get out of America. That is part of why all Chinese visa holders are being removed.
Russians could have a way of collecting on this bounty through the Chinese embassy. At this point in Russia a few hundred in gold could be well worth the effort.
This type of espionage should be made public as fast and as often as it happens. The general public should be more informed about this and more aware of how and why it happens.
Ooh Bad Ruski! As Richard said “We don’t know much yet about just what Artemyev recorded or why he did so, but for the moment I think I’d be surprised to learn that anyone at Roscosmos was behind this”
Exactly, any statements here otherwise is pure speculation, at best.
Maybe he’s a space cadet and want some photos for his wall of fame? Are we talking about a photo of him standing next to a Raptor or Merlin and grinning?
Spacex is pretty darn open about their technology with plenty of photos on line. They don’t pattent their tech.
They know nobody can duplicate it, not Russia, China, Germany, France, ULA, Blue.
Tempest in a teapot.
Our resident Russophile – quel surprise – is quick to assert that there is nothing to see here and that we should move along. Making excuses for Russia or making smoke in an attempt to obscure its latest mess is a ceaseless job.
Whether acting under orders or just freelancing, the would-be astro-spy is simply one more instance of the Russian proclivity to indulge in the institutional equivalent of domestic abuse of non-Russian “partners.” If the Russian culture was a person, he or she would be diagnosed as a borderline personality.
I sincerely hope Jared Isaacman takes a fresh look, with a gimlet eye, at the whole seat-swap arrangement and ends it. It was always done exclusively for Russian benefit. The Russians, in typical fashion, have simply taken the arrangement as their rightful due and then unilaterally exploited it to chisel its “partner” still further.
The low-rent espionage is less consequential than Russia’s unilateral lengthening of its own crew rotation interval and reduction in crew rotation missions from two per year to 1.5. Breaking synchronization with the US policy of doing two crew rotations of its own per year, means NASA must either re-synchronize with the Russians by doing fewer missions of its own – thus reducing flight opportunities for its own astronaut corps – or sticking with the twice-a-year schedule and accepting that the seat-swap will no longer be one-for-one, but 3/4-for-one, with the advantage – naturally – going to the Russians. They get, in essence, one free ride to ISS every other year until ISS is splashed.
My long-time opposition to the seat-swap arrangement was based on not wishing to see American astronauts put at unnecessary risk by riding on the increasingly problematical rattletrap Soyuz. The subsequent gaming of the system by the Russians to their further unreasonable benefit is simply an additional good reason to end this ill-considered policy.
By doing so now, after Russian incompetence has rendered its only Soyuz-and-Progress-capable pad hors de combat, we could “encourage” the Russians to fix the thing or risk facing a break in their ISS occupancy of indeterminate length – perhaps even a premature end to such. Either is fine by me if it means Russians, in future, are the only ones forced to fly on Russian iron – if they can.
I agree with Dick E.
In the wider context, somewhere, perhaps in a galaxy far, far, away, at a time of intelligence both genuine and artificial, it will be discovered and fully understood, just what the moral-political recognition of individual responsibility and the rights necessary for its exercise, enabled humans functioning within the comforting blanket of freedom were able to accomplish!
Consequently, it will also become appreciated, what the rest of those not so fortunate were able to mimic, copy, and imitate. Yes, there were no doubt among those less fortunate, individuals who managed to invent, create, and otherwise “discover,” but the results scream for themselves. Over, and over, and over……….
Actually he was a “bad Ruskie”
He got caught. Caught doing stupid things stupidly.
I think that it probably ought to be a high priority item in Jared Isaacman’s inbox that he institute an immediate review of the seat swap program, to evaluate whether in light of recent events that it be terminated.
Higher level politics might make this tricky, as the White House continues efforts to thaw relations with Moscow, But perhaps this could be done in a polite way, and euphemized as a “temporary suspension,” which just never gets un-suspended. Maybe Jared could even throw in some free payload space (that is, paid for by NASA) on the next Dragon or Cygnus mission to cover the delay in the next Progress resupply mission, to make it go down better at both the White House and the Kremlin.
Spetsnaz Attack
“Red Dawm” 1984
https://youtu.be/JR229_Msuys
6:59
“In the United States, there are approximately 120 guns per 100 people. 32% of US adults own a gun while 44% live in a gun-owning household. Total civilian firearms in the USA approaches 400 million. Military firearms amount to 4.5 million with 1 million law-enforcement firearms.”
Shallow Minded Reader wrote: “Spacex is pretty darn open about their technology with plenty of photos on line. They don’t pattent their tech.”
Actually, they do patent some of their technology. They don’t patent what cannot be seen, because the patent reveals the technology. SpaceX seems open, but that is because much of what they do is viewable from public areas — plenty of photos online. They are also willing to broadcast some of their operations and tests, such as the early attempts to land their booster and their recent test deployments of dummy Starlinks. These did not seem to show anything proprietary and has the benefit of creating public goodwill, showing off their technological advancements without giving away the store.
However, a lot of what we “know” about Starship and the Falcons is speculation and deduction from what is seen. SpaceX has announced relatively little of what we believe about both. It is always exciting when SpaceX does make an announcement that clarifies what we think we know.
For the Russian to be thieving proprietary information is bad on two counts:
1) That belongs to SpaceX. They did the research, and they spent the time, money, and other resources developing that information. Everyone knows that what he did was wrong, and his mother should have taught him better.
2) The U.S. has ITAR regulations (International Traffic in Arms Regulations) that were developed specifically to keep certain technical and space-related information out of the hands of our adversaries. To go around those regulations has gotten many people and companies into serious trouble — trouble that the cosmonaut has been allowed to not bear. We may not know the details of what he stole, but if it weren’t bad, we wouldn’t have heard about it, and he would still be scheduled to fly.
______________
Dick Eagleson,
“By doing so now, after Russian incompetence has rendered its only Soyuz-and-Progress-capable pad hors de combat, we could ‘encourage’ the Russians to fix the thing or risk facing a break in their ISS occupancy of indeterminate length – perhaps even a premature end to such. Either is fine by me if it means Russians, in future, are the only ones forced to fly on Russian iron – if they can.”
Do keep in mind that the Russians have only agreed to stay as part of the ISS project until 2028 and have not yet agreed to extend to the 2030 end date that the U.S. is working toward. The Russians’ stated plan is to separate their portion from ISS in order to use as their own independent station after the end-date.
Although this suggests that they would be eager to repair their launch pad, it is possible that they may face up to the downfall of their manned space program and abandon Soyuz and Progress and all their hopes and dreams of future space stations. When I say it that way, maybe they won’t admit defeat and will continue to spend money on this program. As with America, it is a source of national pride.
National pride is probably why Congress was so eager for the SLS-Orion and is still enthusiastic about Artemis, despite its expensive Rube Goldberg-esque design and operation.
Richard M,
No previous NASA Administrator has been even remotely willing to play actual hardball with the arrogant and entitled Russians. A swift jab to the nose is indicated, at a minimum, in recompense for recent shenanigans and I hope Jared I. has the fortitude to administer it.
There should definitely, be no offer of any sorts of freebies to the Russians. No rewards for bad behavior. End the seat-swap. Bill them for the groceries and the changes of duds if they can’t keep themselves supplied with either. Further supplies could well become moot if the Russians do not elect to, or are unable to, repair their broken pad, can no longer send crews to ISS and simply walk away from it even earlier than that fan-dance 2028 date they’ve been trying to use as leverage. I’m fine with a Russian-free ISS for its last four years.
In fact I’m fine with a Russian-free planet. We should be enthusiastically aiding Ukraine in finishing off the nation of Russia, not trying to “improve relations.” Reagan wasn’t bashful about adopting a policy of “We win, they lose” anent the erstwhile USSR. Trump should quit angling for a badly-devalued Nobel Peace Prize and do likewise anent Russia. Once Russia is militarily defeated, defanged and at least the Moscow and St. Petersburg regions are occupied by Ukraine, numerous restive constituent republics and oblasts with non-Russian majorities can be assisted in going their own separate ways. The rump Russia remaining has a population that has long exhibited terminal demographics. I would echo James Tiberius Kirk’s recommendation about the Klingons in Star Trek 6 – “Let them die.” If any of the long-suffering captive nations, once liberated, feel an urge to actively help speed that process along, we should stand aside and allow rough justice to be done.
Following such a course would have advantages even beyond the huge benefit to the rest of the world of taking Russia out of it. It would, most significantly, constitute a warning against future aggressive mischief on the part of the PRC – assuming the PRC has not, itself, come to terminal grief as a regime in the interim.
The grand strategy of the US in the coming years should be to, as soon as practicable, achieve a world with no remaining consequential enemy nations still extant. Russia and the PRC are both quite vulnerable at present. Once they are gone, the mid-level pest regimes like Iran and North Korea can be straightforwardly done in if they have not already fallen from lack of external allies and emboldened native populations who see a chance and grab it. The same would be true of the tertiary nation-state nits like Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua. Absent the erstwhile big bad boys, these latter can – if they have not already fallen – be blown over with a stiff breath. By the end of the second Vance administration, if not before, the US could have seen off all of its significant enemies.
Edward,
I’m quite aware that the Russians have been doing a little fan-dance for some time about their future – if any – at ISS beyond 2028. I am not only hoping for a Russian-free ISS for its last two years but would be even happier with a Russian-free ISS for its last four years if the Russians either cannot, or choose not, to repair their mangled Soyuz-Progress launch pad. If the last Russian to ever set foot on the ISS has already arrived and will be departing in mid-2026 I will be delighted.
I’m also aware of long-standing notional Russian plans to detach their ISS modules as the core of a new ROS station. Those plans, to the extent they still exist, have, so it is said, now been reduced to detaching just the relatively recently-arrived Nauka module. The rest are simply ancient and leaky junk and more trouble than they would be worth. The Russians supposedly have one or two complete or quasi-complete station modules still in limbo on the ground that are notionally serviceable and slated to be additions to the equally notional ROS.
All such plans, of course, have now been put in serious jeopardy of effective termination if Russia either can’t or won’t fix its sole manned spaceflight-capable launch pad. That is a project anent which I, quite emphatically, do not wish them well. A Russian-free cosmos cannot eventuate soon enough IMHO.
Dick Eagleson,
“No previous NASA Administrator has been even remotely willing to play actual hardball with the arrogant and entitled Russians.”
Dan Golden did OK in the middle or late 1990s. The U.S. was sending Russia money to complete their modules for the ISS, but Russia was using that money on other projects and was not making much progress on the modules that the money was supposed to go toward. Golden told the Russians that if they didn’t start using that money on the ISS project, then NASA would treat Russia as a contractor rather than a partner. Many people where I worked cheered. Russia straightened up and completed the ISS modules.
It was a little bit hardball, but only lasted that one incident.
The biggest leak was literally from SuperHeavy splitting wide open. We all got a good look at the plumbing.
No one thought to put a tarp up there?
Edward,
I wasn’t aware of the episode you describe but it certainly makes me regard Dan Goldin a bit less unfavorably. My view is still that his tenure at NASA was one of the worst as well as, I believe, the longest. But even he, apparently, had his moments.