Baikonur launch pad damaged after Russian Soyuz launch to International Space Station
MOSCOW (Reuters) – A Russian Soyuz MS-28 spacecraft carrying two Russian cosmonauts and a NASA astronaut successfully docked with the International Space Station on Thursday, the Russian space agency Roscosmos said.
However, the agency later reported that the launch pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan was damaged by the launch. It was said that the damage would be repaired quickly.
The Soyuz 2.1a rocket took off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome at 12:28 Moscow time (0928 GMT).
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Late Thursday, Russian news agencies quoted Roscosmos as saying the launch was safe, but damage was observed after an inspection of the launch site.
“Damage has been detected in a number of elements of the launch pad. An assessment of the state of the launch complex is currently being carried out,” Roscosmos said, according to the agencies. he said.
“All necessary replacement items to repair this are available and the damage will be repaired very soon.”
It was stated that the crew was at the station and their health condition was good.
(Reporting by Anastasia Lyrchikova; Writing by Marina Bobrova; Editing by Andrew Osborn, Ron Popeski and Bill Berkrot)
