Russia's only crewed launch pad out of action after Soyuz mission mishap

Technology Dec 01, 2025

Russia's latest Soyuz MS-28 mission to the ISS made it to space, but left Baikonur Cosmodrome's main launch pad badly damaged.
The incident on November 27, 2025, has put future Russian manned spaceflights on hold for now—even though the crew (including two Roscosmos cosmonauts and a NASA astronaut) got off safely.

What went wrong and what's next

A key maintenance cabin at the site either malfunctioned or wasn't secured right, so it got blasted into a pit by the rocket's engines.
This accident means Russia doesn't have an active crewed launch pad at the moment.
While Roscosmos says repairs will be quick, others estimate it could take up to two years—quite a change from when Russia was the only country sending people to the ISS before SpaceX joined in.