Russian Space Agency (Roscosmos) chief Dmitry Rogozin's tweet, roughly translated from Russian, read, "Launchers at Baikonur decided that without flags of some countries, our rocket would look more beautiful."
As Russia faces a severe global backlash over its full-scale attack on Ukraine, a video shared on Twitter by Russian Space Agency (Roscosmos) chief Dmitry Rogozin on Wednesday showed workers from Japan, the United States and the United States. (US) and the United Kingdom are shown covering the flags. (UK) on a Soyuz rocket at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
However, the Indian flag remained untouched.
Japan, the US and the UK have imposed economic sanctions on Russia, while India has refrained from directly criticizing Moscow for its actions.
India also refrained from voting on a resolution against Russia at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) session on Wednesday. Instead, the Indian government has repeatedly called on both sides (Russia and Ukraine) to work on a peaceful settlement.
Стартовики на Байконуре решили, что без флагов некоторых стран наша ракета будет краше выглядеть. pic.twitter.com/jG1ohimNuX
— РОГОЗИН (@Rogozin) March 2, 2022
"Launchers at Baikonur decided that without flags of some countries, our rocket would look more beautiful," Rogozin's tweet, roughly translated from Russian, read.
According to media reports, the Soyuz rocket - carrying 36 OneWeb satellites - was to be launched on March 4 (Friday). But Roscosmos later said that the launch would not go as planned.
OneWeb is a global communications company that provides broadband Internet services around the world. It is partly owned by the British government and the list of owners also includes Bharti Enterprises and SoftBank.
“Roscosmos seeks guarantees that OneWeb satellites will not be used for military purposes. Due to Britain's hostile stance against Russia, another condition for the March 5 launch is that the British government withdraws from OneWeb,” said Russian The agency tweeted.
According to a BBC report, the British government is under pressure to pull the launch of the rocket in view of the escalating war in Ukraine. The BBC report said the government said it was discussing the situation with its colleagues on OneWeb's board.