Preparations for the launch of the Soyuz MS-23 manned spacecraft can be stepped up if necessary, Russia’s Roscosmos State Space Agency said in a statement on Saturday.
"Preparations for the launch of the Soyuz MS23 ship are underway at the Baikonur spaceport. If the need arises, they can be stepped up to send the spacecraft to the ISS earlier than scheduled," the statement reads.
The surface of the instrument and equipment compartment of the Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft was damaged on Thursday. A spacewalk was canceled following the incident. Roscosmos Executive Director for Manned Space Programs Sergey Krikalev said that the spacecraft’s radiator could have been hit by a micrometeoroid. The Soyuz MS-23 launch was initially scheduled for March 2023.











