Dramatic Abort! Russia Halts ISS Astronaut Mission Launch Seconds Before Blast Off

Russia aborted the launch of three astronauts aboard its Soyuz rocket just seconds before it was scheduled to blast off into space. The three astronauts, who all reported to be safe, were headed to the International Space Station before an automatic safety system nixed the launch with about 20 seconds left on the countdown.

NASA astronaut Tracy Dyson, Roscosmos Oleg Novitsky, and Marina Vasilevskaya of Belarus were all set to head to the International Space Station before the launch was dramatically aborted. According to Roscosmos General Director Yuri Borisov, the reason for the abort was identified as being a “voltage drop in the chemical current source.” Borisov added the next launch attempt will be on Saturday.

“Today’s Soyuz launch was aborted at the 20-second mark. The spacecraft and crew remain safe. Teams at Baikonur will provide updates as they make assessments,” NASA announced via a tweet on X/Twitter.

NASA spokesperson Rob Navias remarked after the aborted launch, “The vehicle is safe, all fueling operations have ceased. All safety commands have been provided onboard the rocket so there’s no danger to the crew. They’re perfectly safe.”

A Soyuz spacecraft has room for three astronauts to hitch a ride to the International Space Station. According to NASA, at least one Soyuz is always attached to the space station, acting as a lifeboat. If there were ever an emergency, the crew onboard ISS would use the spacecraft to leave and return to Earth.

ISS has been one of the few places where tensions between Americans and Russians have taken a backseat to politics, especially since Russia’s military action in Ukraine. Both countries are hopeful the cosmic peace will continue until 2030, when ISS will be decommissioned and eventually fall back to Earth.

The three crew members of the Soyuz M-25 mission were to join the ongoing crew on ISS, with Dyson planning to spend six months on the space station as part of the Expedition 71 crew. Vasilevskaya and Novitsky will only stay onboard ISS for 12 days, before returning home with the outgoing Expedition 70 crew members.