Russia launches first rocket from repaired Baikonur launch pad

Russia launched a Soyuz-2.1a rocket carrying the Progress MS-33 cargo spacecraft from a repaired launch pad at its Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Sunday, marking the first flight from the site since it was damaged last November.

The Progress MS-33 spacecraft lifted off at 1200 GMT and is scheduled to dock with the Russian segment's Poisk module on March 24, delivering more than 2.5 tonnes of cargo.

However, one of the spacecraft's antennas, used for automatic docking, failed to fully deploy after launch. Specialists are monitoring the spacecraft's flight parameters and preparing for a manual docking by the crew aboard the Russian segment of the International Space Station (ISS), said Russia's state space agency Roscosmos.

Cosmonaut Sergey Kud-Sverchkov is expected to carry out the manual docking. Oleg Kononenko, head of the Cosmonaut Training Center, said manual docking is routinely practiced and considered a straightforward task.

Video released by Roscosmos confirmed the successful launch. NASA also reported that while the antenna had not deployed as planned, all other systems were operating as designed and Progress would continue toward its planned docking.

The Baikonur Cosmodrome, located in Kazakhstan, is operated by Russia under a lease extending through at least 2050.

The launch pad, known as Site 31, was Russia's only operational pad capable of sending crewed missions to the ISS.

During the Soyuz MS-28 launch last year, part of the site collapsed, temporarily grounding Russia's ability to send cosmonauts and supplies to the ISS. Repairs to the pad were completed earlier this month.

(With input from agencies)