Russia's successful launch of three new crew members to the International Space Station on Thursday (Nov. 27), resulted in damage to country's only active launch pad for crewed spaceflights to the orbiting lab, Russia's federal space corporation has confirmed.
The maintenance cabin (also referred to as a service platform) located in the flame trench at the Baikonur Cosmodrome's Site 31/6 in Kazakhstan reportedly collapsed in the wake of the Soyuz MS-28 crew launching to the space station atop a Soyuz 2.1a rocket. The platform is needed in the preparation of boosters launching from the pad.
"The condition of the launch complex is currently being assessed," the statement said. "All the necessary spare parts are available for restoration, and the damage will be repaired in the near future."
Site 31/6 has been used exclusively for Russian human and cargo flights to the International Space Station since 2020, after Site 1 was retired due a lack of funds for upgrades. Also known as "Gagarin's Start," Site 1 hosted the world's first human spaceflight by cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin in 1961.
Site 31/6 was first used in January 1961 and has supported more than 400 launches since.
"There is some possibility that duplicate hardware could be borrowed from the mothballed Site 1 in Baikonur or from similar facilities at other launch sites," wrote journalist Anatoly Zak on his Russian Space Web site. "According to preliminary estimates, repairs of the service platform, known as 8U0216, could take up to two years."
It is unclear if another Russian launch pad could support flights to the space station. Roscosmos had scheduled an uncrewed Progress resupply mission in December.
The Soyuz MS-28 crew of Sergey Kud-Sverchkov, Sergey Mikaev and NASA astronaut Chris Williams are safe aboard the space station, where they are expected to stay for the next eight months.
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