Baikonur Cosmodrome Sustains Damage Following successful ISS-Bound Soyuz Launch
BAIKONUR, Kazakhstan – Russia’s Baikonur Cosmodrome experienced damage to its launch facilities Thursday following the successful launch of a Soyuz MS-28 spacecraft carrying a three-person crew to the International Space Station (ISS). Roscosmos, the Russian space agency, confirmed the damage hours after the crew-Russian cosmonauts Sergei kud-Sverchkov and sergei Mikayev, and NASA astronaut Chris Williams-successfully docked with the ISS.
The Soyuz MS-28 lifted off at 12:27 Moscow time and completed docking procedures later the same day, as confirmed by NASA. Roscosmos reported that “damage to several elements of the launch pad was detected” and an assessment of the launch complex is underway. The agency stated it possesses “all necessary spare parts” and intends to complete repairs “in the near future.”
According to the Russian science news outlet N+1, the damage may lead to delays in future crewed Soyuz missions to the ISS, as Baikonur is currently russia’s only operational launchpad for such missions. Reports indicate the service cabin beneath the launch pad-used for accessing the rocket’s lower stages-was likely destroyed during liftoff.
Russia leases Baikonur from Kazakhstan for $115 million annually. The cosmodrome, originally built by the Soviet Union, holds immense past importance, having been the launch site for Yuri Gagarin, the first human in space in 1961, and Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman in space in 1963.
Modernization efforts at the facility have been hampered by chronic underfunding and geopolitical instability, including Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea and its 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Baikonur remains one of the last areas of ongoing space collaboration between Russia and the West.
AFP contributed reporting.
