At Baikonur, the launch pad was severely damaged during the launch of the Russian Soyuz-28. Without it, Russia will not be able to send people into space, Focus reports.
At the Baikonur Cosmodrome, the service cabin collapsed for unknown reasons after the launch of the Russian spacecraft Soyuz MS-28, reported rocket launch analyst Georgy Trishkin, as quoted by Meduza.
Damage to the launch pad is visible in the broadcast. According to the expert, part of the launch table's structure fell under Launch Pad 31 after the launch on the morning of November 27.
It is noted that during the launch broadcast of the Soyuz, conducted by Roscosmos, it was visible that "some massive metal structure, which should not be there, ended up in the gas discharge trench under the launch table."
Launch Pad 31 at Baikonur is the only launch pad for Russian crewed missions to the International Space Station. If it is broken, Russian launches of Soyuz and Progress spacecraft to the ISS will be postponed indefinitely.
Another expert, Vitaly Egorov, stated that "effectively from this day, Russia has lost the ability to launch people into space, which has not happened since 1961."
It is noted that the launch pad collapsed due to gross errors in operational technology, which resulted from the "lightened" regulations established during the tenure of former Roscosmos head Yuri Borisov. Repairing the complex high-tech unit will take up to two years.
Relocating launches to the Vostochny Cosmodrome will require extensive work, as it will be necessary to redesign the booster stages. Moreover, there are no conditions at Vostochny to conduct crewed spacecraft launches: the launch complexes were originally planned for uncrewed launches according to the design documentation.
The modernization of the Gagarin Launch was planned back in 2018 with funding from the United Arab Emirates, but in February 2022, the Arabs withdrew from cooperation and funding.
Roscosmos did not comment on the incident. Meanwhile, official Russian media reported with headlines that the launch was successful and the Soyuz MS-28 spacecraft with Russian cosmonauts Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and Sergey Mikaev, along with American astronaut Chris Williams, docked with the ISS.
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