Russia has successfully launched a Soyuz rocket from a repaired pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome, restoring its ability to send missions to the International Space Station for the first time since last year's damage.
The Soyuz-2.1a rocket carried the Progress MS-33 cargo spacecraft into orbit, with docking expected in the coming days, according to Russia's space agency Roscosmos.
The launch pad had been out of service since November, when it was damaged during a previous mission involving a crewed Soyuz spacecraft. Although that mission reached the ISS safely, the incident left Russia without its primary launch capability for crew and cargo missions for several months.
While other launch sites exist, the repaired pad was the only one capable of handling Soyuz missions to the ISS, making its return to operation a key step in restoring regular spaceflight operations.
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