MOSCOW. May 30 (Interfax) - The United States' refusal to use Russia's services for launching commercial satellites will inflict no major damage on the Russian space industry, Roscosmos' executive director Sergei Krikalyov told Interfax on Thursday.
"In reality, it is them [the U.S.], not us, who are at threat. This restriction on using our services threatens those who use them," Krikalyov said.
Earlier on Thursday, the Pentagon included Russia in its list of countries banned from launching U.S. commercial satellites. The ban will come into effect from 2023.
Russia put into orbit several Lemur-2 satellites for marine navigation and meteorological purposes in 2018. The year preceding this, the Russian Proton-M carrier rocket delivered the U.S. communications satellite Echostar-21 into space.
Russian Soyuz spaceships shuttle NASA astronauts to the International Space Station.