NASA Accelerates Dragon Supply Missions Following Damage to Russian Launch Site

NASA is accelerating the launch of two Cargo Dragon spaceships to ensure that astronauts on board the International Space Station have all the supplies they need next year. The next Dragon supply mission, CRS-34, is moving forward one month from June 2026 to May.

The next mission, CRS-35, has been advanced three months from November to August. These changes are a direct result of a launch pad incident on Thanksgiving Day at the Russian spaceport in Baikonur, Kazakhstan.

The incident occurred when a Soyuz rocket launched Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergei Kud-Sverchkov and Sergei Mikayev, along with NASA astronaut Christopher Williams, on an eight-month mission to the International Space Station.

Although the rocket had no difficulties, a large mobile platform below it was not properly secured and crashed into the flame trench, taking the pad offline. Repairs are expected to require at least four months.

Site 31 at Baikonur is the only pad currently configured to handle launches of the Soyuz rocket and critical spacecraft for the space station. Roscosmos has begun assessing repair plans and scheduling the delivery of spare parts, informing NASA that recovery will take at least four months.