
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
LATEST POSTS
- 1
Instructions to Arrange Your Compensation During Medical caretaker Prospective employee meetings - 2
Iran-backed Iraqi militias attack Kurdistan over 450 times since beginning of war - 3
Your big brain makes you human – count your neurons when you count your blessings - 4
Two IDF officers, civilian face indictment in alleged Gaza aid-truck smuggling scheme - 5
French high-speed train slams into truck, killing TGV driver
Looter indicted after pretending to be emergency worker at Dimona rocket crash site
Fact Check: Israeli Channel 13, Al Jazeera Did NOT Confirm Hezbollah Captured All Or Part Of Kiryat Shmona
More than half way to the moon, the Artemis II astronauts are grappling with a toilet problem
Monetary Versatility: Get ready for Life's Unforeseen Difficulties
Artemis II crew cleared to depart Earth orbit, head for moon
The most effective method to Distinguish the Best Material Organization in Your Space
How did this 20-light-year-wide 'Diamond Ring' form in space? Maybe a cosmic bubble burst
Watch SpaceX launch powerful ocean-mapping satellite for Europe and NASA early Nov. 17
‘We are the alternative’: Anti-Hamas Gaza militia tells BBC group is receiving international support













