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Insurance for manned Soyuz spacecraft launch doubles after October 11 faulty liftoff

Sogaz insurer has won a tender to insure risks during the launch of a Soyuz-FG carrier rocket with a manned Soyuz MS-11 spacecraft and its docking with the International Space Station

MOSCOW, November 30. /TASS/. Sogaz insurer has won a tender to insure risks during the launch of a Soyuz-FG carrier rocket with a manned Soyuz MS-11 spacecraft and its docking with the International Space Station (ISS), according to information posted on the government procurement website on Friday.

The insurance cost has risen more than twofold after the faulty launch of the manned Soyuz spacecraft on October 11.

Sogaz will get 310.2 million rubles ($4.7 million) compared to the contract’s initial price of 344.65 million rubles ($5 million). The insurance coverage will amount to 4.78 billion rubles ($71.9 million).

The launch is scheduled for December 3 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. This will be the first manned launch to the orbital outpost after the incident with the piloted Soyuz spacecraft on October 11.

The faulty launch was insured by Soglasie to the amount of 4.66 billion rubles ($70 million), with the insurance premium under the contract equaling 143.3 million rubles ($2.1 million).

Therefore, the insurance cost has risen by 116%

The insurer AlfaStrakhovaniye also took part in the tender with a bid of 339.18 million rubles ($5 million).

The insured party is the Center for the Operation of Ground-Based Space Infrastructure, with Roscosmos acting as the beneficiary under the contract.

Soyuz abortive launch

A Soyuz-FG carrier rocket with a manned Soyuz MS-10 spacecraft blasted off from Kazakhstan’s Baikonur Cosmodrome to the International Space Station (ISS) on October 11. On board the spacecraft were Russian cosmonaut Alexei Ovchinin (the commander of the Soyuz MS-10) and NASA astronaut Nick Hague.

Following a smooth liftoff, the Soyuz’s booster malfunctioned between the first and second stages of separating, whereupon the crew was forced to abort the flight and switch to ballistic descent. The manned Soyuz MS-10 spacecraft ended up landing in the Kazakh steppe.

The press office of Russia’s Central Military District reported that rescuers recovered the crew from the descent capsule. Later, the crewmembers were examined and found to be in good condition. After their medical check-up in the town of Baikonur, the astronauts were transported to Moscow.

This was the first emergency landing with this type of carrier rocket over the past 35 years.

NASA astronaut Nick Hague, who returned to Moscow from the Baikonur spaceport on October 12 after the Soyuz booster’s failure, flew to the United States on October 13.

As the emergency commission announced on November 1, the incident occurred after the nozzle lid of the oxidizer tank did not open due to the deformation of the stages’ separation contact sensor. The sensor was deformed during the assembly of the ‘package’ of the rocket’s first stage at the Baikonur Cosmodrome.

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