Russia’s main launch site for human spaceflight, the Baikonur Cosmodrome in western Kazakhstan, has sustained damage following the latest Soyuz launch, prompting urgent repair efforts and the suspension of all crewed missions from the facility.
According to officials, the incident occurred shortly after the Soyuz capsule carrying Russian cosmonauts Sergei Kud-Sverchkov and Sergei Mikayev, along with American astronaut Christopher Williams, lifted off on 27 November en route to the International Space Station. Inspectors later identified damage to the launch platform.
The Russian space agency Roscosmos downplayed the severity of the incident, stating that “several elements were damaged” and that repairs will be completed “in the near future.” The crew successfully reached the ISS without complications.
Baikonur — located in Kazakhstan’s windy steppes and operated by Russia under a long-term lease — remains Moscow’s only site capable of launching humans into orbit. Its role, however, has diminished in recent years as private companies such as SpaceX and Blue Origin have expanded their launch capacity and strengthened cooperation with NASA.
Although Russia has developed alternative launch sites, including the Vostochny Cosmodrome in the Amur region, progress has been slowed by budget overruns and corruption scandals, and it remains unclear when the site will become operational for crewed missions.
Kazakh officials reported that part of the rocket used in the Soyuz launch fell in a remote area near Baikonur, causing alarm among local residents. Environmental concerns linked to Russia’s space and nuclear programs have been a long-standing point of tension between the two countries.
NASA has not commented on the incident.
