Dmitry Rogozin, general director of Roscosmos, on Twitter called October 24 a “black day” for Soviet and Russian cosmonautics, in which rocket launches are not carried out.
The manager recalled the tragedy that happened 60 years ago, in 1960, at the Baikonur cosmodrome, when 74 people died in the fire. “Half an hour before the planned launch of the R-16 rocket, the second stage engine was unauthorizedly started. It was followed by the destruction of the first stage and a fire at launch pad 41, ”said the head of the state corporation.
Rogozin recalled that exactly three years later, on October 24, 1963, another R-9A intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) disaster occurred at the test site, during which 8 people died. “Traditionally, rockets are not launched on this day,” the manager wrote.
In October, Rogozin, at a meeting on the development of the Northern Sea Route, chaired by Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, said that by 2025, Roskosmos would be almost completely independent of imports.
In the same month, SpaceNews wrote that the launch of a medium rocket Soyuz-2.1a with a manned spacecraft Soyuz MS-17 was probably the last for which NASA paid Roscosmos.
