The New York Times reports, “The launchpad Russia uses for sending astronauts and cargo to the International Space Station is out of commission after a mishap last week during the liftoff of a Soyuz rocket. The rocket itself headed to space without incident, taking three astronauts — Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and Sergei Mikaev of Russia and Chris Williams of NASA — to the space station. But the force of the rocket’s exhaust shoved a service platform used for prelaunch preparations out of its protective shelter. The platform fell into the flame trench below.”
Full Story (New York Times – subscription publication)
Tag: Space program
India’s Space Program Seeks Rebound in 2022
Space News reports that Indian space agency ISRO Chairman K. Sivan “says he expects much more in 2022, including an uncrewed test flight for its human spaceflight program.” Sivan wrote, “There is a feeling that very little happened in ISRO during 2021. That feeling is primarily due to less number of launches.” ISRO “carried out only two launches in 2021,” a satellite aboard the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle launched in February, and an Earth imaging satellite launched aboard a Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle. A key initiative for 2022 is the launch of Gaganyaan, India’s first crewed mission. Sivan wrote, “There is a directive to launch the first unmanned mission before the 75th anniversary of India’s independence and all the stake-holders are putting their best effort to meet the schedule. I am sure that we will be able to meet this target.”
Full Story (Space News)