Russian Launch Site Mishap Shows Perilous State of Storied Space Program

A Soyuz launch at Baikonur damaged Russia's only launchpad capable of sending astronauts and crucial propellant to the ISS. 'The rocket itself headed to space without incident, taking three astronauts -- Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and Sergei Mikaev of Russia and Chris Williams of NASA -- to the space station,' reports the New York Times. 'But the force of the rocket's exhaust shoved a service platform used for prelaunch preparations out of its protective shelter. The platform fell into the flame trench below.' From the report: Photos and videos of the launch site the next day showed the platform out of place and mangled. 'It's heavily damaged,' said Anatoly Zak, who publishes RussianSpaceWeb.com, a close tracker of Russia's space activities, 'and so probably it will have to be rebuilt. Maybe some of the hardware can be reused. But it fell down, and it's destroyed.'

This is the latest embarrassment for the once-proud Russian space program, which the United States relied on from 2011 to 2020 to get NASA astronauts to orbit. The incident also raises questions about the future of the International Space Station if the launchpad cannot be quickly repaired. In a statement issued on Friday, Roscosmos, the state corporation in charge of the Russian space program, confirmed unspecified 'damage' at the launchpad. 'All necessary parts needed for repairs are at our disposal, and the damage will be dealt with in the near future,' it said.

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