Jens Asbjørn Bøgen
It means they are effectively cut off from the ISS.
The spaceport at Baikonur, Kazakhstan, long central to Moscow’s crewed missions, now faces an unexpected shutdown.
According to several news outlets, including The Independent, Roscosmos (the Russian equivalent of NASA and ESA) confirmed that Thursday’s launch of the Soyuz MS-28 damaged key sections of the Baikonur Cosmodrome’s only crew-rated pad.
Footage released by the agency showed part of the structure giving way into the exhaust trench beneath the rocket as it lifted off.
Despite the failure on the ground, the spacecraft itself performed normally, and no injuries were reported.
NASA astronaut Chris Williams and his two Russian colleagues reached the International Space Station (ISS) later that evening, according to Roscosmos.
Experts doubt official statements
According to CNN, the agency told state media that “damage to a number of elements of the launchpad was detected” and added that specialists were evaluating the site’s condition.
Officials insisted that backup parts were available and that repairs would be made “in the near future.”
However, analysts quoted by Russian outlets warned that critical wiring, sensors, and portions of the service bay may have been destroyed, potentially complicating any swift recovery.
Newsweek cites Russian space commentator Vitaliy Egorov, writing on Telegram, as saying that this pad is the only one Roscosmos uses for ISS missions and was intended for future launches to the planned Russian Orbital Station.
A historic setback
Egorov argued that the incident effectively leaves Russia unable to send people into orbit, something he said “has not happened since 1961.”
He suggested the agency must either restore the pad rapidly or upgrade another site to handle crew flights.
The current Soyuz crew is scheduled to remain on the ISS for eight months and return to Earth in July 2026.
Russia is continuing work on its own orbital platform, the Russian Orbital Service Station (ROSS), expected to replace the ISS after its retirement in 2030.
The first ROSS module is slated for launch in 2027, NASASpaceflight reports.
Sources: The Independent, Roscosmos statements, Newsweek, CNN, NASASpaceflight
