On Thursday, November 27, Russia launched the manned spacecraft "Soyuz MS-28" from the Baikonur cosmodrome. The launch was successful; however, during the launch, the launch pad was damaged - the only one in Russia for sending people into space.
How did this happen? "Roscosmos" does not specify the extent of the damage, but it is known that part of the service cabin, the so-called retractable "balcony," collapsed at launch pad No. 31. This structure is a high-tech platform that engineers use to ascend to the upper levels of the rocket, through which the final pre-launch checks are conducted. It must completely retract from the rocket before launch.
If the platform gets stuck or operates incorrectly, everything surrounding the rocket is damaged.
This is exactly what happened here. The "balcony" was supposed to automatically retract into a special niche before launch. But it remained in the path of the rocket's jet flame and was... torn away by the engine's thrust.
In fact, the engine's flame simply "blew away" the platform (where a bishop had stood two days earlier, blessing the rocket).
According to analysts in this field, the accident occurred now due to a combination of several factors. There is the overall wear of Baikonur's infrastructure, part of which was built back in the 1960s. The chronic lack of investment in the industry and the degradation of personnel in "Roscosmos" also played a role. And, of course, the rush contributed to this. Finally, on such sites, technical discipline is more important than ritual practices, which distract and create additional risks.
Why is this critical for Russian space exploration?
The fact is that launch pad No. 31 is the only operational complex from which manned "Soyuz" spacecraft and crews to the ISS, as well as cargo "Progress" spacecraft, can be launched.
But on Thursday, the launch table was damaged, without which such launches are simply impossible. This means that for the first time in 64 years (since 1961), Russia can no longer send cosmonauts to the International Space Station independently. This was specifically stated by space analyst Vitaly Egorov.
Of course, it cannot be said that this is forever. According to independent experts, the recovery time for the damage may reach 1-2 years. Theoretically, during this period, Russia should have used another launch pad - No. 1 ("Gagarin Launch"). But it will not be able to. The Russians were supposed to modernize this pad together with the UAE, but the Emirates withdrew from cooperation after the start of the war between the Russian Federation and Ukraine. Investments did not materialize, modernization was frozen, and launches from this pad are also impossible.
