Russia Restores Key Launch Pad at Baikonur Cosmodrome

At the 31st launch pad of the Baikonur Cosmodrome, the Russians have completed the installation of a service cabin that was damaged during the launch of the Soyuz carrier rocket in 2025.

Roscosmos has already officially approved the launch date of the Progress MS-33 cargo spacecraft to the International Space Station (ISS).

The launch from the cosmodrome is scheduled for March 22, 2026.

This facility is of strategic importance, as pad No. 31 is the main launch site not only for cargo ships but also for manned Soyuz spacecraft.

In 2025, at Baikonur, a mobile service cabin fell several meters into a fire protection trench, deforming bridges and access elements.

As a result, launch pad No. 31 has effectively become unusable.

To restore the facility, 2,350 square meters of structures were prepared and painted, all fasteners were replaced, electrical equipment was completely updated and debugged, the cabin’s components and mechanisms were inspected and serviced, and more than 250 linear meters of welded seams were made.

The most difficult task was the installation of individual cabin elements 19 meters long and weighing about 17 tons.

Progress MS-33 is to deliver fuel, equipment for scientific experiments, food, and parcels to the ISS.

Before the full-scale war began, Ukraine also used the Baikonur site in Kazakhstan.

In 2011, a Ukrainian-made Zenit-2SLB carrier rocket with the American Intelsat 18 communications satellite was successfully launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome.

In 2013, two Ukrainian Zenit-3M rockets arrived at the Baikonur Cosmodrome to launch the Russian Elektro-L meteorological satellite and the Israeli AMOS-4 telecommunications spacecraft.