Most likely, Russia’s space agency Roscosmos indeed has everything necessary to replace the damaged components; in the worst case, arrangements could be made for other launch pads to serve as donors for restoring the service bay at the launchpad Site 31.
On November 27, 2025, the Soyuz MS-28 spacecraft was successfully launched fromlaunchpad 31 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome. The three-member crew (Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and Sergey Mikaev, as well as NASA astronaut Christopher Williams) successfully arrived at the International Space Station. However, during the mandatory inspection of the launch pad after liftoff, it was determined that several “elements of the launch pad” had been damaged during the launch.
The official position of Roscosmos is that all spare components are available, meaning that “the damage will be repaired in the near future.”
At the same time, online reports appeared claiming that Russia had, for the first time since 1961, lost the ability to conduct crewed launches and send humans into space.
Relevant Telegram channels published photos of the damaged service bay, sometimes referred to as the “balcony.” It is a massive metal structure used to prepare the rocket for launch.
Most likely, Roscosmos indeed has everything necessary to replace the damaged units; in the worst case, arrangements could be made for other launch pads to act as donors for restoring the service bay at the launchpad Site 31.
Site is a launch pad used for launching payloads with carrier rockets developed on the basis of the first Soviet intercontinental ballistic missile, the R-7. By 2006, the site had been modernized for launches of Soyuz-2 rockets. It is currently used for commercial launches of spacecraft using the Soyuz-FG/Fregat, Soyuz-2/Fregat rockets, and Progress cargo ships using the Soyuz-U launch vehicle. Since 2012, Site 31 has also been used for launching crewed Soyuz spacecraft.
At the same time, the question of alternative launch sites arises. There are no other fully equipped launch pads for rockets of this type at Baikonur. §Gagarin’s Start,” or Site 1, is no longer used due to outdated equipment. It had been used until mid-2019, but it requires modernization that was not undertaken at the time due to lack of funds.
Russia also has the Vostochny and Plesetsk Cosmodromes, but they have never been used for launching crewed spacecraft. Rockets of similar types have even been launched from the Kourou Cosmodrome, but no crewed launches have ever been conducted from that site either. Even without considering the changed international environment and, assuming cooperation with the European Space Agency could be restored, this would hardly help resolve the current technical problem.
Thus, Site 31 is indeed the only option for launching crewed spacecraft in the near future. Alternatively, a site at Vostochny would need to be prepared for such missions, but construction work there has not yet been completed.
This means that repairing the damaged platform is the only way to restore the functionality of Site 31 in the shortest possible time. If all components are available, repairs may take several months and could delay ISS crew rotation schedules for some time. In the future, consideration must be given to preparing an alternative site at the Vostochny Cosmodrome but its development would take years.
Source: Rossa Primavera News Agency
