
A launch pad at Russia’s main space complex was damaged during Thursday’s launch of a mission carrying two Russians and an American to the International Space Station, Moscow’s space agency announced.
The Soyuz MS-28 spacecraft successfully docked with the space station and the three crew members had boarded, Roscosmos said.
But a post-launch inspection at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan revealed “damage to several elements of the launch pad,” according to a statement from Roscosmos, which still uses the space facility in its former Soviet neighbor.
“An assessment of the condition of the launch complex is currently underway,” it said, adding that all parts needed to repair the pad are available.
“The damage will be repaired in the near future.”
The launch pad contains support systems for the rocket and a structure that allows cosmonauts to access their capsule as it sits atop a Soyuz rocket.
Launch pads must be capable of withstanding extreme heat, air pressure and vibrations as a rocket takes flight.
Russian analysts said repairs to the launch pad could take a week or longer. And any lengthy delay could leave Russia unable to launch missions to the space station, they said.
“In the worst case this could seriously affect the rotation of crewed missions and cargo flights to the ISS,” analyst and blogger Georgy Trishkin wrote on Telegram.
Typically, ISS crew are launched roughly every six months from Baikonur.
“This is the only launch pad Roscosmos uses for the ISS program, and in the future it was supposed to be used for launches to the Russian Orbital Station,” commentator Vitaliy Egorov wrote on Telegram.
“In effect from this day Russia has lost the ability to launch humans into space, something that has not happened since 1961. Now it will be necessary to quickly repair this launch table or modernize another one,” Egorov wrote.
Besides Russia’s Soyuz craft, NASA uses SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft to take crew to the ISS.
The three men aboard the mission that lifted off Thursday join seven other crew already orbiting on the ISS.
Three are scheduled to return to Earth by December 8, according to NASA.
For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com
NEUESTE BEITRÄGE
- 1
European Travel Objections for 202405.06.2024 - 2
'Backward and upward and tilted': Spaceflight causes astronauts' brains to shift inside their skulls13.01.2026 - 3
Step by step instructions to Recognize the Distinction Between Lab Jewels and Precious stone Simulants17.10.2023 - 4
What loving-kindness meditation is and how to practice it in the new year29.12.2025 - 5
Analysis-From 'Icarus bug' to flawed panels: Airbus counts cost of relying on single model05.12.2025
Ähnliche Artikel
Why this Tennessee special election has the 'whole world' watching01.12.2025
From ‘Project Hail Mary’ to Artemis II, spaceflight captures audiences when it centers on people because human space travel is hazardous27.03.2026
Trump administration launches new immigration crackdowns in New Orleans and Minneapolis. Here are all the cities it has targeted so far.03.12.2025
Turning into a Distributed Writer: My Composing Process25.09.2023
Innospace's rocket crashes in first commercial launch in Brazil; shares tumble22.12.2025
The Meaning of Breaking the Pen's Nib in Death penalties30.06.2023
ABC News' Sam Champion opens up about recent health scare25.03.2026
Winona Ryder didn't take the 'Stranger Things' plot lightly. How 'otherworldly' grief and a kidnapping in her hometown informed her character.21.11.2025
The Job of a Migration Legal advisor: How They Can Help You30.06.2023
How Skoda Lost Its Biggest Market In Just Seven Years28.03.2026













