Damage at Baikonur launchpad halts Russia’s ability to launch crews

Russia’s launchpad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan is out of commission after a mishap during the liftoff of a Soyuz rocket last week. The rocket itself reached orbit and carried three astronauts — Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and Sergei Mikaev of Russia and Chris Williams of NASA — to the International Space Station, but exhaust from the launch shoved a service platform out of its protective shelter and into the flame trench.

Anatoly Zak, who publishes RussianSpaceWeb.com, said the platform is "heavily damaged" and "destroyed." Roscosmos confirmed unspecified "damage" and said repairs would be dealt with "in the near future." Because that Baikonur pad has served the Russian part of the I.S.S. program since 2019, Roscosmos will not be able to launch any astronauts until the pad is fixed, a space commentator, Vitaly Yegorov, said on Telegram.

Other vehicles such as SpaceX’s Dragon can carry astronauts and cargo, but only a Russian Progress vehicle can deliver propellant used by thrusters on the Russian segment; the next Progress launch, scheduled for Dec. 20, will almost certainly be delayed. NASA said the station has sufficient capability for reboost and attitude control and does not expect impacts to that capability.

Observers said the platform may have been dislodged because a stopper or manual brakes on the rails were not installed, though a mechanical failure is also possible. Some analysts tied broader problems to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and related sanctions.

Key Topics

Science, Baikonur Cosmodrome, Soyuz Rocket, Roscosmos, International Space Station, Progress Spacecraft