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Russian space agency Roscosmos says it is inspecting damage to the launchpad used Nov. 27 to ferry three crewmembers to the International Space Station.
The pad is the only one able to support Russian launches to the ISS. The damage occurred when the rocket lofted a Soyuz MS-28 spacecraft that took NASA astronaut Chris Williams and Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and Sergei Mikayev to the ISS.
The Soyuz 2.1a rocket lifted off at 4:27 a.m. ET from Pad 31 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Roscosmos said a post-launch inspection of the pad showed it sustained damage.
“The launchpad's condition is currently being assessed,” Roscosmos said in a social media post.
“All necessary spare components are available for repair, and the damage will be repaired shortly,” Roscosmos said, without detailing whether it would impact the timing of planned launches.
The next Russia mission to the ISS using a Progress resupply capsule and designated Progress MS-33 had been scheduled to take place before year's end.
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