Russia’s Soyuz Rocket Production On Hold Due To Coronavirus

Russian officials said they’ve halted manufacturing of the country’s workhorse Soyuz rocket, which most recently flew on April 9 to carry three astronauts to the ISS in a launch that was essentially unaffected by the pandemic. Space.com reports: The news of the pandemic’s impact on its production comes from an English-language transcript released on April 10 by Russia’s government of a call held by President Vladimir Putin and a group of space center leaders. During that call, Putin cautioned against using the pandemic as a scapegoat for issues within the industry. “Clearly, the fact that we have to fight the coronavirus is forcing us to make adjustments in our country, the economy in general and Roscosmos specifically,” Putin said at the end of the public portion of the call, according to the transcript. “At the same time, I would like to warn you against the temptation to blame unresolved issues and loose ends — which are still in abundance — on the coronavirus.” Russian space manufacturing has raised concerns since a small air leak on a Soyuz spacecraft docked to the space station in August 2018 and a failed Soyuz rocket launch in October 2018 sent two astronauts tumbling back to Earth during an emergency abort (they landed safely). Since then, all crewed launches have gone smoothly, and last week’s launch relied on a different model of the Soyuz 2 rocket than the version that failed. But for now, Soyuz 2 production is on hold, Dmitry Baranov, general director of the Progress Rocket and Space Center where the rocket is built, said during the call. Baranov said that decision was made because 52 completed Soyuz 2 rockets are on hand at the facility and at launch sites worldwide. Other aspects of rocket work are continuing as usual, including maintenance and testing of completed Soyuz 2 rockets and production of the Soyuz 5, a heavy-lift launch vehicle planned to make its first flight in late 2022, Baranov said. The facility will also consider restoring the full workforce with protective measures in place sometime after next week, he said.