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A Soyuz booster that launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome situated in Kazakhstan on November 27 securely transported a pair of Russian cosmonauts along with a NASA astronaut to the ISS, but impaired the launch site during the event. This image displays a comparable launch from March of 2024. (Image credit: Bill Ingalls/NASA via Getty Images)ShareShare by:
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The sole operational launchpad in Russia has been provisionally put out of commission after taking substantial damage during the latest mission sending three astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS). According to specialists, this incident will prevent the nation from launching individuals into space for the first time in over 60 years.
On Thanksgiving Day (Nov. 27), the Soyuz MS-28 spacecraft ascended from Site 31/6 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome within Kazakhstan at approximately 2:30 p.m. local time (4:30 a.m. EST). The booster was transporting Russian cosmonauts Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and Sergei Mikaev alongside NASA astronaut Chris Williams, all of whom safely reached the ISS and will remain there for the upcoming eight months, according to Live Science’s sister website Space.com.
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Russian authorities refrained from mentioning which pieces of the launchpad were impacted or the manner in which they sustained damage, stating solely that the detriment was “under assessment at present” and was to be “repaired shortly.”
However, Ars Technica reported that an anonymous witness noticed during the ascent that a service platform weighing roughly 22 tons (20 metric tons), utilized for gaining access to rockets’ engines, toppled into the “flame trench” — the section situated underneath the launchpad in which the fiery plumes from the rocket are emitted. (If proven true, this likely indicates the platform wasn’t appropriately fastened prior to the liftoff.)
Ars Technica stated that a service platform of 22 tons was dislodged during the launch sequence and plunged into the flame trench underneath Site 31/6. This photograph displays a Soyuz rocket releasing its intense exhaust into the flame trench during an ISS launch occurring in 2015.
It is ambiguous how much time will be necessary to repair Site 31/6 or if another inactive pad can be revamped to replace it. Still, until this transpires, Russia is unable to launch astronauts.
“Essentially, from this moment forward, Russia has forfeited its capacity to launch humans into space, an event that has not taken place since 1961,” Vitaliy Egorov, a Russian space reporter, indicated on Telegram, as reported by CNN. “Now, either a speedy repair of this launch table is necessary or another one needs to be modernized.”
The Baikonur Cosmodrome was erected in the latter part of the 1950s, during the period when Russia formed a component of the Soviet Union and was participating in a space rivalry with the U.S., which eventually culminated in the Apollo moon landings. Since the disintegration of the Soviet Union in 1991, the area has been loaned back to Russia by Kazakhstan for a sum of roughly $115 million annually.
Within its own borders, Russia possesses two additional operational cosmodromes: Vostochny and Plesetsk. Despite this, neither location has the capacity to launch manned Soyuz rockets presently.
Site 31/6, having been employed for more than 400 prosperous rocket launches, became the singular functioning launchpad at Baikonur back in 2020, after Roscosmos decommissioned Site 1/5 (also recognized as Gagarin’s Start), the only other active pad. Yuri Gagarin, the pioneer human in space, was launched from the decommissioned pad in 1961, and elements from it might now be implemented in repairing Site 31/6, as indicated by Space.com.
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The service platform underneath Site 31/6 enabled engineers to perform maintenance on the booster engines of Soyuz rockets before liftoff.
Russia initiates astronaut launches to the ISS biannually, which is less frequently compared to prior times. This is attributable, in part, to the inception of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 boosters that can be reused, but additionally because Russia is curtailing its involvement with the ISS initiative, slated for cessation by 2030.
The upcoming crewed mission to the ISS is set to launch from Site 31/6 in July of 2026, whereas a non-crewed supply excursion is scheduled to commence in less than three weeks, specifically on December 20, according to Space News.
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Whether or not Russia will be primed for these liftoffs will represent “an authentic test of their sturdiness,” as stated by Jeff Manber, a space policy authority who spearheads the space stations division at Voyager Technologies, a private aerospace company. “We are poised to discern the degree to which the ISS is vital to the leadership there.”
Russia also has existing plans to commence missions from Site 31/6 in order to facilitate the erection of the fledgling Russian Orbital Service Station, which is at present anticipated to commence construction in 2027, according to Egorov.
Upon the decommissioning of the ISS, Russian cosmonauts are additionally anticipated to be dispatched to China’s Tiangong space station, as the two nations fortify their alliances to accomplish their reciprocal ambition of constructing a base situated on the moon by 2035. (It remains uncertain from which nation these astronauts will be launched.)
Recently, China has undergone its personal spacecraft mishap. In early November, a purported collision with space debris impacted a return module fastened to Tiangong, stranding a trio of astronauts in space. Subsequently, the three astronauts were brought back to Earth via another capsule, which temporarily marooned three further astronauts before the launch of an unmanned “lifeboat” on November 24.
Harry BakerSocial Links NavigationSenior Staff Writer
Harry is a senior staff writer for Live Science, based in the U.K. He studied marine biology at the University of Exeter before training as a journalist. He addresses a broad spectrum of subjects that include space exploration, planetary science, space climatology, climate dynamics, animal behavior, as well as paleontology. His most recent project regarding the solar maximum secured the award for “best space submission” during the 2024 Aerospace Media Awards and was a nominee in the “top scoop” division at the NCTJ Awards for Excellence back in 2023. He’s also the author of Live Science’s weekly Earth from space series.
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