Cosmonaut Removed From Upcoming Space Mission

A Russian cosmonaut is removed from the Crew 12 mission of SpaceX due to alleged security breaches involving classified space equipment.

A Russian cosmonaut was removed from SpaceX's next Crew 12 mission due to allegedly breaking U.S. national security regulations, leading to a subsequent barrage of investigation into the matter in the space sector overall. Oleg Artemyev is a veteran and has had three long-term stays in the ISS and has spent over 560 days in space and he was initially scheduled to fly on the four-person mission that was due to be launched in February.

Roscosmos informed him of his replacement, that of a fellow cosmonaut, Andrei Fedyayev, on account of a routine job transfer. Nevertheless, Russian investigative journal The Insider stated that Artemyev supposedly captured restricted SpaceX records and exported confidential vulnerable data via his cellphone, which could be considered an infringement upon ITAR, an American law that deems safeguarded technologies that are central to space and defense.

Launch analyst Gregory Trishkin confirmed they are investigating internally, and displacing a crew member that close to launch is considered unusual and is an indication of grave problem areas. Further reports allege that it happened when Artemyev was at SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, California, where he was actually taking photos of engines and other restricted systems.

The most recent active NASA mission that SpaceX will launch into the International Space Station is Crew 12 and it will remain active in keeping space cooperation across the entire world despite the geopolitical tensions. Its mission is now scheduled to launch not before February 15 and has Fedyayev, ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot and two unnamed crew members on board.

NASA and SpaceX have not made any statement concerning the investigation and the space industry waits next to understand more about the incident.