It was a prototypical swipe: a video of technicians covering up a large American flag decal affixed to a Russian rocket at the cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
“The launchers at Baikonur decided that without the flags of some countries, our rocket would look more beautiful,” Dmitry Rogozin, Moscow’s space chief, tweeted on Wednesday.
The public reproval, as Rogozin simultaneously held hostage the scheduled launch of satellites partially manufactured in the U.S., was mild compared to the verbal salvo he’s been lobbing in defense of Vladimir Putin’s violent assault on Ukraine and his threats to sever two decades of space cooperation.
In recent days, Rogozin has seriously undermined one of the adversaries’ few surviving partnerships, which gives his broadsides and antics much more impact.
He has threatened to pull out of the International Space Station and also announced that Russia will no longer service Russian-made engines used to launch American satellites.
The colorful, 58-year-old head of Roscosmos has long been a challenge for Washington and — according to multiple people who have interacted with him — an extremely wearisome partner even in more amicable times.
“The man has a lot of personality,” said Terry Virts, a retired Air Force colonel and NASA astronaut who was escorted by Rogozin to the Russian Soyuz capsule that took him to the space station in 2014.
One former U.S. official who recently interacted with Rogozin at an international conference also said Rogozin can be “brash” and a “blowhard.”
But Rogozin, a former deputy prime minister, ambassador to NATO and founder of a coalition of nationalist political parties, is clearly one of Putin’s leading boosters — and beneficiaries. He has emerged as a prominent attack dog for the regime and a target of government opponents.
“Reading the news feed, you see what chronic hatred the West has for Russia, and how every Russophobe is trying to interrupt the ‘common cause’ with a personal contribution of his own shit and poison,” Rogozin responded to one critic over the weekend.
He has fanned the baseless claims that “Ukrainian Nazis” are committing genocide in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine. And he has repeatedly egged on the Russian invasion with nationalistic slogans such as “Patriots of Russia! Happy Defender of our Fatherland Day!” and “Glory to Russia.”
He also recently swapped out his Twitter profile picture of him wearing civilian garb for one of him donning a military uniform.
“I’m not at all surprised he has taken on this role,” said Greg Autry, who served on the NASA transition team during the Trump administration. “Rogozin is clearly very tightly connected to Putin and the inner circle of oligarchs.”
He has been singled out by Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who has accused Rogozin of corruption and hiding his outsized salary and luxury lifestyle.
Navalny, who is now a political prisoner, released documents in 2019 revealing that Rogozin purchased an 8,600 square-foot dacha north of Moscow for an estimated $3 million.
“We have nothing against large salaries,” Navalny said at the time. “But why is it so insanely large? Is there really that much excess money in our budget? How can you demand transparency from the people at lower levels when at the very top the numbers in public access documents simply do not match?”
Rogozin has reportedly seen his annual salary balloon, from nearly half a million to well over $1 million.
And he has also constantly riled up his American space partners.
Rogozin first threatened to cut ties with NASA after Russia’s first invasion of Ukraine in 2014, when the U.S. was fully dependent on Russian capsules to get to and from the space station.
“After analyzing the sanctions against our space industry, I suggest to the USA to bring their astronauts to the International Space Station using a trampoline,” he tweeted at the time.
It was also personal. He was among a series of Russian leaders at the time who were personally targeted by U.S. sanctions, which designated him among individuals “who wield influence in the Russian government and those responsible for the deteriorating situation in Ukraine.”
And he has since been barred from traveling to the United States.
“This guy is pretty combative and has long been difficult to engage with,” said Victoria Samson, the Washington Office Director for the Secure World Foundation.
Rogozin, who has been head of Roscosmos since 2018, has lashed out repeatedly during the Ukraine crisis — often multiple times per day.
He has warned that without Russian participation, the International Space Station, where astronauts and cosmonauts currently make up the crew, could come crashing down. It is a message he keeps broadcasting, including on Russian television.
On Wednesday, Rogozin also indicated that the Russian crew on the space station will no longer work with some of their fellow astronauts.
“The State Corporation will not cooperate with Germany on joint experiments on the Russian segment of the ISS. Roscosmos will conduct them independently,” he tweeted to his nearly 800,000 followers.
And he also announced that Russia will no longer provide logistical support for the two dozen RD-180 rocket engines that are used on the Atlas V rocket, a step that contractor United Launch Alliance was already preparing for.
In a fresh trolling early Thursday, Rogozin went as far as to make a veiled threat with potentially catastrophic consequences. He highlighted Russian companies sanctioned by the U.S. that make components for intercontinental ballistic missiles. “Strange,” he tweeted, “because by definition they enjoy a visa-free regime and are always ready to visit the aggressor country.”
NASA insists publicly that space cooperation is continuing. “NASA continues working with Roscosmos and our other international partners in Canada, Europe and Japan to maintain safe and continuous International Space Station operations,” spokesperson Jackie McGuinness said.
She also said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, the genteel former Florida senator who is the opposite of his Russian counterpart, “hasn’t spoken to Rogozin recently.”
Autry, who is now a professor of space leadership at Arizona State University, asserts that Rogozin’s swagger is also designed to cover up for a Russian space program on the steady decline.
He cited a recent spate of what he called “frightening and bizarre incidents,” including a hole in a Russian Soyuz spacecraft docked to the space station that Russia has claimed was drilled by an American astronaut without offering any proof.
Russia had to abort a Soyuz launch in 2018, and faulty thrusters on one of its capsules spun the ISS around last year, forcing the crew to take quick action to stop it. Russia’s destructive anti-satellite test in November, which required the space station crew to take shelter against dangerous debris, also appeared to have been conducted without Roscosmos’ knowledge.
“Beyond the threats, it is clear that Roscosmos is in decline and has been very badly managed under his leadership,” Autry said.
But Rogozin’s social media skills are as sharp and snarky as ever — such as this post purported to depict a Ukrainian hacker after he denied this week that a cyber attack had taken down Roscosmos’ satellite operations center, or this swipe at Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his European allies.
On Wednesday, he even poked fun at Zelenskyy for wiping his nose.
Said Virts of Rogozin: “He’s pretty ridiculous.”
