Russia has temporarily lost its only functional launch pad capable of sending astronauts into orbit after a Soyuz rocket severely damaged the structure during liftoff, effectively grounding the nation’s crewed space program for the first time since the early days of the Space Race.
The incident occurred on Nov. 27 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, where the Soyuz MS-28 mission launched Russian cosmonauts Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and Sergei Mikaev alongside NASA astronaut Chris Williams. The trio reached the International Space Station safely. The launch pad, however, did not.
Shortly after the rocket departed, Roscosmos confirmed that “several launch pad components” were damaged during takeoff. The agency offered no specifics, but independent reports paint a clearer and far more troubling picture. According to Ars Technica, an eyewitness observed a 22-ton service platform fall directly into the flame trench under the pad. The giant structure, used to access the Soyuz booster engines before launch, may not have been properly secured.
If accurate, the collapse of such a critical platform would explain why Site 31/6, Russia’s final operational human-rated launch pad, is now out of service indefinitely.
Russian space analyst Vitaliy Egorov summarized the consequence bluntly: Russia has no way to launch astronauts until the pad is repaired or another site is modified. “In effect, Russia has lost the ability to launch humans into space for the first time since 1961,” he wrote.
Baikonur, built in the 1950s and leased by Russia from Kazakhstan, has long been the backbone of the nation’s crewed program. But of its two major pads, only Site 31/6 has remained active since 2020. The historic Site 1/5, known as Gagarin’s Start, was retired after decades of use. Engineers may now need to revive parts of that decommissioned complex to compensate for the recent damage.
The setback comes at a sensitive moment. Russia sends astronauts to the ISS only twice a year, and the next crewed mission is scheduled for July 2026. An uncrewed supply launch is planned even sooner, on Dec. 20, raising urgent questions about whether repairs can be completed in time.
The failure also arrives as Russia reshapes its role in orbit. The country plans to build its own orbital station beginning in 2027 and to deepen cooperation with China as they move toward a joint lunar base by 2035.
For now, the future of Russia’s human spaceflight program depends on how quickly it can recover from one unexpectedly destructive launch.
