Russia sets new record by carrying out 70 accident-free space launches in three years

The Russian space agency Roscosmos has created a new record by carrying out as many as 70 successful launches without any accidents for three consecutive years, according to news agency Sputnik. Since the failed Soyuz launch on October 11, 2018, Russia has launched 32 satellites successfully from Baikonur, 21 satellites from Plesetsk Cosmodrome, seven satellites from Vostochny spaceport, and seven from Kourou Space Center in French Guiana. These all have been launched successfully without any accident.

Meanwhile, 22 emergency scenarios occurred during space launches conducted by other countries within the same time period. There were nine in China, five in the United States, three in Iran, two in France, two in New Zealand, and one in India, reported Sputnik. 

Russia successfully launched the Soyuz-2.1b carrier rocket with 36 UK OneWeb communication satellites from the Vostochny Cosmodrome in May 2020, setting a new milestone for the post-Soviet era with the 59th successful space launch in a row. It should be mentioned here that between January 1983 and November 1984, the Soviet Union had set a far more impressive record for accident-free space launches, with 185 successful launches in a row, according to Sputnik.

Meanwhile, on October 5, the Russian space agency successfully launched three cosmonauts onboard the Soyuz MS-19 spacecraft. The rocket carrying cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov, Russian actor Yulia Peresild, and producer Klim Shipenko had taken off from Kazakhstan's Baikonur Cosmodrome. 

Russia becomes first country to launch members of the film industry into space

With this historic launch, Russia has become the first country to launch members of the film industry into space. Shipenko and Peresild will spend 12 days in space filming scenes for their ambitious space film The Challenge, for which they went through rigorous preparation for nearly a year. Peresild told the Associated Press that learning about the spacecraft's design and handling was one of the most difficult aspects of their preparation.

Furthermore, the Russian part of the International Space Station (ISS) is more congested than the American segment, which could pose a problem for the crew, according to the news agency. Notably, Roscosmos is based in Moscow, with its primary Mission Control Center in Korolyov and the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, Moscow Oblast. Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, the world's first and largest spaceport, and Vostochny Cosmodrome in Amur Oblast, Russia's Far East, are among its launch sites.

Image: Twitter/ @ РОСКОСМОС