Baikonur Launch Pad Damaged After Soyuz MS‑28 Liftoff as NASA Astronaut Chris Williams Reaches Space Station
November 28, 2025 A dramatic week for human spaceflight has left Russia’s Baikonur Cosmodrome with a damaged launch pad and the International Space Station (ISS) with three new crew members — including NASA astronaut Chris Williams — safely on board. While the Soyuz MS‑28 mission reached orbit and docked as planned, post‑launch inspections revealed serious damage to Baikonur’s Site 31, the only pad currently certified for Russia’s crewed Soyuz flights to the ISS. Reuters+2NASA+2 On Friday, November 28, officials and analysts were balancing two realities: the crew is healthy and beginning an eight‑month mission, but the infrastructure that launched them