A Soyuz rocket launch to the International Space Station on November 27 caused unexpected damage to Baikonur Cosmodrome’s Site 31, Russia’s only operational pad for crewed missions.

The blast and vibrations from liftoff damaged critical infrastructure, including the facility’s service cabin, temporarily halting operations.

Engineers had to assess and repair the site before future missions could continue.

While the mission itself succeeded, the incident raised concerns about aging infrastructure and quality control at the historic launch complex, the Daily Galaxy has reported.

Site 31’s importance as the sole active Russian pad for crewed ISS missions means any extended outage could disrupt international spaceflight schedules.