Russia’s only operating manned launch site for Soyuz and Progress has been severely damaged after an accident with a Soyuz MS-28 on November 27 at Baikonur.
The mobile service cabin fell into the fire protection channel by several meters, deforming the service bridges and access elements.
According to multiple Russian sources, on Nov. 27, 2025, the launch of the Soyuz MS-28 crew vehicle caused the mobile service platform at Site 31 to collapse into the flame duct below the pad. It essentially rendered the only facility for Russian orbital crew launches unusable. At the time, Roskosmos planned the launch of the Progress MS-33 cargo ship to the ISS on Dec. 21, 2025.
Repairs of the service platform, known as 8U0216, could take up to two years. Makeshift arrangements are being considered to support multiple cargo and crew launches to the ISS in the interim. Maybe duplicate hardware could be borrowed from the mothballed Site 1 in Baikonur or from similar facilities at other launch sites. There were four Soyuz pads in Plesetsk at one point, including an unused existing structure at Site 16, also one pad operated in Vostochny and one mothballed pad was in Kourou, French Guiana.
A failure to install a special stopper into position to secure the mobile service platform inside its shelter during the launch could be the root cause of the Nov. 27, 2025, accident at Site 31.
Brian Wang is a Futurist Thought Leader and a popular Science blogger with 1 million readers per month. His blog Nextbigfuture.com is ranked #1 Science News Blog. It covers many disruptive technology and trends including Space, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Medicine, Anti-aging Biotechnology, and Nanotechnology.
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As the old retire, the new are not ready!
More and more will need to be automated as the newcomers are no longer getting real world cognitive training thanks to smart phones and AI. Musk has the same problem with SpaceX.
Get your kids out into the outdoors and let them develop naturally, as in the olde days. 😉
As the old retire, the new are not ready!
More and more will need to be automated as the newcomers are no longer getting real world cognitive training thanks to smart phones and AI. Musk has the same problem with SpaceX.
Makes you wonder how many other important systems (Russian or otherwise) have show-stopping, single-point-of-failure issues like this.
Bummer! I guess they’ll have to fallback to using a trampoline for a while.