NASA Rushes Dragon Missions After Russian Launch Site Damage
▼ Summary
– NASA is accelerating two Cargo Dragon supply missions to the ISS to ensure astronaut supplies due to a Russian launch pad being out of service.
– The CRS-34 mission is moving from June 2026 to May, and CRS-35 is advancing from November to August 2026.
– The schedule changes are a direct result of a launch pad accident at Russia’s Baikonur spaceport in Kazakhstan on Thanksgiving.
– During a Soyuz crew launch, an unsecured mobile platform crashed, damaging the pad and taking it offline for repairs.
– The damaged pad, Site 31, is Russia’s only one currently configured for critical Soyuz, Progress, and crew launches, requiring at least four months to repair.
To maintain a steady flow of essential supplies to the International Space Station, NASA is expediting the launch schedule for two SpaceX Cargo Dragon missions. This strategic adjustment comes in response to significant damage at a primary Russian launch facility, which has temporarily halted a key supply line to the orbiting laboratory. The agency has moved the CRS-34 mission forward by one month to May 2026, while the subsequent CRS-35 mission is now scheduled for August 2026, a shift of three months earlier than initially planned.
These schedule changes are a direct consequence of an incident at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. During a Thanksgiving Day launch of a Soyuz rocket carrying two Russian cosmonauts and a NASA astronaut, a large mobile service structure failed to retract properly. The unsecured platform subsequently fell into the launch pad’s flame trench, causing substantial damage. While the rocket itself performed flawlessly, the critical launch infrastructure was rendered inoperable.
The affected site, known as Pad 31, is uniquely configured for launching the Soyuz rocket along with its associated spacecraft. This includes the Progress cargo freighter and the Soyuz crew capsule, both of which are vital for routine resupply and crew rotation missions to the International Space Station. Although Russia operates other launch facilities, this specific pad’s capabilities are not easily replicated elsewhere for these particular missions.
Russian space officials at Roscosmos have informed their NASA counterparts that repairs will require a minimum of four months. Teams are currently assessing the damage and organizing the delivery of necessary replacement parts. This extended downtime creates a potential gap in the regular cadence of cargo deliveries, prompting NASA to leverage its commercial partnership with SpaceX more aggressively. By accelerating the Dragon missions, the agency aims to pre-position additional supplies on the station, ensuring crew safety and mission continuity regardless of the timeline for the Russian pad’s return to service.
(Source: Ars Technica)
