Launch pad damaged during mission to ISS
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, reports BritPanorama.
The Soyuz MS-28 spacecraft successfully docked with the space station, and the three crew members have boarded, according to Roscosmos.
However, a post-launch inspection at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan revealed “damage to several elements of the launch pad,” the agency confirmed, emphasizing the continued use of the facility in Kazakhstan.
“An assessment of the condition of the launch complex is currently underway,” Roscosmos stated, adding that all necessary parts for repairs are available.
“The damage will be repaired in the near future,” the agency noted.
The launch pad includes essential 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 withstand extreme heat, air pressure, and vibrations during liftoff.
Russian analysts suggest that repairs could take a week or longer, and any significant delay could hinder Russia’s ability to carry out missions to the space station.
“In the worst case this could seriously affect the rotation of crewed missions and cargo flights to the ISS,” analyst and blogger Georgy Trishkin communicated via Telegram.
Typically, ISS crew launches occur approximately 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,” commented Vitaliy Egorov 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,” he stated.
Besides Russia’s Soyuz craft, NASA also utilizes SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft for crew transportation to the ISS.
The three crew members on this mission join seven others currently aboard the ISS, with three scheduled to return to Earth by December 8, as per NASA’s timeline.
