NASA has no claims against Russia on cooperation in space, but China is “not transparent and does not interact”

NASA head Bill Nelson, speaking at a hearing in one of the committees of the Senate of the US Congress, said that the US space agency does not have information about the degree of cooperation between Russia and China in space, while he accused China of the opacity of the space program.

“We do not know the degree [взаимодействия России и КНР в космосе]», – said Bill Nelson, answering the corresponding question of the senator. At the same time, the head of NASA called relations with Russia in space “professional”. Contrasting relations with China with US-Russian relations on the civilian space program, Nelson said that Beijing “not transparent and non-interacting”. As an example, he gave “uncontrollable fall” the first stage of a Chinese launch vehicle into the Indian Ocean, which occurred in May 2021. “She could have fallen on Europe or Saudi Arabia”– Bill Nelson was indignant, saying that China “refuses to interact”. “The relationship with the Chinese space program is very strange”– summed up the head of NASA.

It should be recalled that back in 2011, the US Congress passed a law that, in the interests of “national security”, prohibited NASA from interacting and using government funding for cooperation with China, due to existing restrictions, Beijing is not a participant in the ISS program and is building its own space station.

Meanwhile, China is already working on a system to protect the Earth from asteroids, and earlier in China they have repeatedly spoken out about the fact that they are ready to cooperate with specialists from different countries within the framework of their own orbital station project.