A cosmonaut is reported to have been removed from an upcoming SpaceX mission due to a breach of US law, according to Russian media reports.
Oleg Artemyev was scheduled to travel to the International Space Station (ISS) in early February as a member of SpaceX’s Crew 12 mission.
SpaceX, owned by tech billionaire Elon Musk, frequently collaborates with NASA to facilitate crew and cargo transport to the ISS.
Artemyev was set to be one of four crew members on the six-month mission, along with French ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot and two astronauts yet to be announced.
He has now been replaced by cosmonaut Andrei Fedyayev, as confirmed by officials from the Russian Federal Space Agency in a statement on Tuesday, December 2.
The officials stated that Artemyev was ‘transferring to another position’.
However, rocket launch analyst Georgy Trishkin reports, according to independent Russian publication The Insider, that sources informed him Artemyev was removed from the mission for a different reason.
According to sources, the 54-year-old was removed after violating international security protocol.
He reportedly took photographs of SpaceX documentation and then used his phone to transmit classified information.
The Insider’s sources mentioned that an interdepartmental investigation has been initiated.
Photographing documentation violates the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), a stringent US law governing the sharing or selling of defense-related technology and its data, as explained by the FAA.
ITAR encompasses physical items like weapons, satellites, and aerospace hardware, along with the technical data and documentation associated with defense and space technology.
Certain space and aerospace technologies may be used for military purposes and can be classified as ‘defense articles’ under ITAR.
Unauthorized exposure of their technical documents or images poses a security risk.
A source told The Insider: “My contacts confirm that a violation occurred and an interdepartmental investigation has been launched.
“Removing someone from a mission two and a half months before the mission without a clear explanation is more of an indirect sign, but it’s indicative.
“It’s very difficult to imagine a situation in which an experienced cosmonaut could inadvertently commit such a gross violation.”
Artemyev was chosen as part of the cosmonaut group RKK Energia in 2003 and has completed three stints on the ISS.
He developed and tested Extra-Vehicular Activity (EVA) equipment prior to his first space mission in 2014.
Artemyev served as a flight engineer and spent 169 days in orbit on the ISS as part of Soyuz TMA-12M.
He embarked on his second flight in 2018, spending 196 days in orbit, and his third mission in 2022 as station commander, logging 194 days on the ISS.
Over his three missions, Artemyev has accumulated approximately 560 days in space.
He has also undertaken eight EVA activities, including spacewalks, gaining over 53 hours of EVA time.
SpaceX, NASA, and Roscosmos have been contacted for comment.