Russia replaces cosmonaut after alleged security breach at SpaceX facility

Moscow has replaced a cosmonaut assigned to an upcoming SpaceX mission after he allegedly took photos of restricted materials at the company's training facility in California, according to Russian media.

Oleg Artemyev was pulled from the Crew-12 mission to the International Space Station following allegations he violated US regulations by photographing SpaceX engines and other sensitive documentation, investigative outlet The Insider reported.

Georgy Trishkin, a space industry analyst, told The Insider that sources confirmed an interagency investigation had been launched into the incident.

The alleged violations took place during training at SpaceX's facility in Hawthorne, where Artemyev reportedly used his mobile phone to photograph sensitive materials and attempted to remove them from the site, according to the report separately confirmed by a Russian space industry Telegram channel.

"It's hard to imagine an experienced cosmonaut making such a serious mistake unintentionally," Trishkin told The Insider.

Russia's space agency Roscosmos announced on Tuesday that Artemyev, 54, would be replaced by Andrey Fedyaev, who flew on SpaceX's Crew-6 mission in 2023.

Roscosmos said the change was made "in connection with Oleg Artemyev's transfer to another job," without addressing the reported investigation.

Artemyev has completed three spaceflights and spent 560 days in orbit. He has served as a deputy in the Moscow City Duma since 2019.

Fedyaev, 43, spent 186 days aboard the space station during the Crew-6 mission, which launched in March 2023 and returned in September 2023.

The Crew-12 mission is scheduled to launch no earlier than 15 February 2026 aboard SpaceX's Crew Dragon spacecraft under NASA's Commercial Crew Programme.

NASA and SpaceX have not yet commented on Artemyev's removal from the mission or the allegations.

From Tsar's Wolves to the Uran batallion

The incident comes as space cooperation remains one of the few areas where Russia and the West maintain working relations despite Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

NASA and Roscosmos agreed in July to extend International Space Station operations until 2028, with plans to address the station's de-orbiting by 2030.

Russia's space programme has faced criticism for directly supporting Russia's all-out war in Ukraine.

Former Roscosmos chief Dmitry Rogozin repeatedly threatened to pull Russia out of the ISS programme in early 2022, warning that US sanctions could cause the station to crash into US or European territory.

He suggested in February 2022 that without Russian cooperation, the ISS could fall into an "uncontrolled deorbit" and questioned "who will save the ISS" from such a scenario.

NASA officials at the time downplayed Rogozin's threats, with administrator Bill Nelson calling him out for his rhetoric while praising the professionalism of other Russian space programme workers.

Rogozin, a nationalist politician and former ambassador to NATO known for attending far-right gatherings, was removed from his post in July 2022 and replaced by Yuri Borisov.

He then declared himself the leader of the Tsar's Wolves volunteer unit, reportedly tasked with testing weapons for Russian troops in Ukraine.

This, along with his penchant for publicly sharing images of himself in expensive military gear, earned him criticism from the late Wagner mercenary commander Yevgeny Prigozhin, who called them “public relations” stunts.

In December 2022, Rogozin was injured after being struck by shrapnel from a precision munition while eating at a restaurant in the Russian-occupied Donetsk.

Meanwhile, in June 2023 Roscosmos launched a recruitment campaign for the Uran Battalion, a volunteer militia fighting in Ukraine.

In 2024, the space agency's head Borisov said that over 1,000 space industry employees had been involved in the war, with the agency's satellite systems providing Russian troops with real-time intelligence.

Former deputy defence minister, Borisov was fired by Russian President Vladimir Putin in February and replaced by deputy minister of transport Dmitry Bakanov.

The European Space Agency suspended cooperation with Roscosmos on the ExoMars rover mission in March 2022, and British satellite company OneWeb switched to alternative launch providers after severing ties with the Russian agency.