The pad used by Russia to send Soyuz spacecraft to the International Space Station (ISS) sustained damange during yesterday's crew launch, according to Roscosmos.

While the Russian space agency confirmed "damage to several launch pad components" and said spares were available, it provided few specifics.

Anatoly Zak of RussianSpaceWeb.com and author of Russia In Space provided some details and imagery of the damage, which looked more extensive than Roscosmos implied. In Zak's image, a structure he referred to as "the mobile service platform" had collapsed in the flame trench beneath the launchpad. Also called "the service cabin," the structure holds the Soyuz rocket in place until just before launch, and provides access for engineers.

It is not clear what happened after the launch, but s

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