ESA Ready To Work With ISS Partners To Solve Issues After Nauka Module Incident

PARIS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 30th July, 2021) The European Space Agency (ESA) is ready to continue cooperation with partners on the International Space Station to solve issues after an incident with the Russian Nauka module, ESA Head of ISS program Frank De Winne told Sputnik on Friday.

The Nauka module was launched to the ISS from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan onboard a Proton-M carrier rocket and successfully docked with the ISS on Thursday. Later, Russian cosmonauts told ground specialists that Nauka's engines had unexpectedly activated, which led to a change in the position of the station.

The ISS engines had to be switched on in order to compensate for the operation of the Nauka engines.

"ESA is ready to work with the international partnership of the ISS to resolve any remaining issues [after the Nauka module incident]. The ISS partnership is strong and we are confident that together with the ISS partners we still have many more years of ISS exploitation ahead of us," De Winne said.