Russia Completes Repairs to Site 31, Next Cargo Launch on March 22

Russia Completes Repairs to Site 31, Next Cargo Launch on March 22

By Marcia Smith | Posted: March 3, 2026 5:17 pm ET | Last Updated: March 3, 2026 5:36 pm ET

Russia has completed repairs to Site 31, the launch pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome used for sending crews and cargo to the International Space Station. A structure that supports the launch platform collapsed immediately following the launch of the most recent Soyuz crew in November. Despite what appeared to be significant damage, Roscosmos successfully worked to get it ready for the next Progress cargo mission scheduled to launch on March 22.

Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and Sergei Mikaev and NASA astronaut Chris Williams lifted off from Site 31 on November 25, 2025. As the rocket left the pad, however, a “maintenance cabin” or “service platform” that is part of the launch pad’s structure collapsed. The incident did not affect the launch or the crew’s arrival at the the International Space Station three hours later.

In a post on Telegram that day, Roscosmos acknowledged the damage, but said it would be repaired shortly even though a photo posted by Anatoly Zak of RussianSpaceWeb.com that day suggested there was extensive damage.

In just three months, however, repairs are now complete. In a Telegram post today, shared on X by Russian space enthusiast Katya Pavlushchenko (@katlinegrey), Roscosmos showed video clips of the work as it was underway and announced the next Progress cargo spacecraft will lift off on March 22. NASA told SpacePolicyOnline.com the exact launch time is 7:59 am EDT (4:59 pm in Baikonur).


The text of Roscosmos’s Telegram post is (per Google Translate):

The service cabin of Launch Pad 31 has been restored at Baikonur.

The Russian manned space program is being carried out from this pad.

Over 150 employees from TsENKI (part of Roscosmos) and representatives from four contractors completed the installation work in a very short timeframe—just over two months.

2,350 square meters of structure were prepared and painted, all fasteners were replaced with new ones, electrical equipment was completely replaced and adjusted, inspection and maintenance of service cabin components and mechanisms was carried out, and over 250 linear meters of welding were completed. The most challenging task was installing certain cabin components, 19 meters long and weighing approximately 17 tons, which were installed through the launch aperture. A special technique was developed for this.

Preparations have begun for the launch of the Progress MS-33 cargo spacecraft, scheduled for March 22.

Zak posted before and after photos.

The Baikonur Cosmodrome has been a mainstay of Soviet/Russian space launches since Sputnik 1 became the first artificial earth satellite on October 4, 1957.  Yuri Gagarin, the first human to orbit the Earth, launched from Baikonur on April 12, 1961 and all Soviet/Russian human spaceflight missions since then have been from Baikonur. Gagarin’s launch pad, Site 1, was decommissioned in 2019 leaving Site 31 as Russia’s only pad for crew and cargo flights to the ISS.

Baikonur is in Kazakhstan, which was part of the Soviet Union until it fell in 1991. Russia now leases the facility from the Kazakh government.

Before joining the ISS program, Russia operated seven space stations starting in 1971 — Salyuts 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and Mir. Salyut 6 was the first with two docking ports enabling crews to be resupplied and remain aboard for longer periods of time. Progress 1 was the world’s first space station cargo resupply vehicle, docking with Salyut 6 in January 1978, and has been the cargo workhorse ever since.

More than 170 Progresses have been launched over almost five decades. The spacecraft has been upgraded several times, getting new designations. The current version is Progress-MS. The next launch will be Progress MS-33. NASA counts only those that resupply the ISS and names them accordingly. Per NASA’s system, Progress 92 and Progress 93 are currently docked, so the next will be Progress 94.

Illustration of the International Space Station showing the location of the various visiting vehicles that deliver crews and cargo. Credit: NASA, February 26, 2026.

ISS is also resupplied by three other cargo vehicles: Japan’s HTV-X, Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus, and SpaceX’s Cargo Dragon. They all deliver food and other consumables, scientific experiments, and equipment. Progress, HTV-X and Cygnus are not designed to survive reentry. They are filled with trash before departure and burn up in the atmosphere. Cargo Dragon is the only cargo vehicle that can return experiments and equipment to Earth.

Crew Dragon and Soyuz are the vehicles used for crews.

Last Updated: Mar 03, 2026 5:36 pm ET

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