Baikonur Launchpad Repairs Expected to Conclude by February 2026

On Tuesday, Russia’s space agency Roscosmos announced its intention to finish repairs on a damaged launchpad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan by the end of February 2026.

The service cabin of the launchpad sustained damage in late November during a manned Soyuz mission to the International Space Station. This service cabin is a sizeable, mobile structure that allows engineers to access the lower parts of a rocket for maintenance and fueling purposes.

Experts had estimated that the repair process could take anywhere from six months to two years, which raised concerns about possible interruptions to Russia’s crewed spaceflight timetable.

In its statement, Roscosmos reported that all necessary replacement parts and equipment for the service cabin have been delivered to Baikonur. Technicians have started preparing the structural components, which will be transported to the launchpad for assembly and testing, the agency noted.

“A work plan has been established and is being closely monitored,” Roscosmos stated, adding that the launchpad is anticipated to be operational by the end of February.

Russia pays Kazakhstan $115 million each year to lease Baikonur, a facility that has been in use since the Soviet era for launching astronauts to the ISS, marking one of the last remaining areas of cooperation between Russia and the West.

The Soviet-era site, situated in southern Kazakhstan, was integral to significant Cold War space achievements, including the launch of Yuri Gagarin, the first human in space, in 1961, and Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman in space, in 1963.

Modernization efforts at the cosmodrome have encountered delays caused by persistent lack of funding and geopolitical instability following Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014 and its invasion of Ukraine in 2022.