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Soyuz rocket producer hit In the early hours of Aug. 15, 2026, multiple locations in the city of Samara came under attack, presumably by Ukrainian Flamingo FP-5 cruise missiles. Eyewitnesses reported hits at RKTs Progress, a prime developer of rockets and spacecraft, including Soyuz-2 and Soyuz-5 launch vehicles, as well as military satellites. An imagery analysis by the Ukrainian group CyberBoroshno indicated a potential hit at Building 106A, a clean-room facility for avionics. It is also adjacent to Building 106B for vehicle integration, CyberBoroshno said. Several hours after the attack, FirePoint, the developer of the Flamingo missile, confirmed an attack on the Progress plant in Samara.
A possible location of the Flamingo missile hit at RKTs Progress in Samara based on eyewitness videos.
In January 2026, speaking at the Korolev Readings in Moscow, Dmitry Baranov, Roskosmos official responsible for launch systems (and a former head of RKTs Progress), said that orders for Soyuz vehicles were exceeding the production capacity at the Progress factory by as much as 30 or even 50 percent for a planned launch campaign period from 2027 to 2030. It would require the company to expend its available stock of rockets before it could be replenished, which Baranov characterized as a normal practice. In the meantime, Head of Roskosmos Dmitry Bakanov told the Russian Federation Council in early April 2026, that the launch facility for the Soyuz rockets in Vostochny was being re-furbished for launches of Progress cargo ships, and also there were plans to move other Soyuz rocket launches to the new spaceport, including those delivering GLONASS satellites. In the meantime, in an effort to consolidate the production of Soyuz rockets, Roskosmos switched the launches of Progress-MS cargo ships from Soyuz-2-1a to Soyuz-2-1b rocket in preparation for phasing out the 2-1a variant and its RD-0110 engine on the third stage.
Soyuz launch campaigns in 2026 February 5: Soyuz launches classified payload Military personnel in Plesetsk opened Russia's orbital launch count of 2026 with the liftoff of a Soyuz-2 rocket carrying multiple secret satellites on February 5. March 22: Progress MS-33 re-supplies ISS The first launch to originate from the restored pad at Site 31 in Baikonur after a service platform collapse in November 2025, was assigned to the same mission that had to be postponed from December. The launch of the Progress MS-33 cargo ship took place on March 22, 2026, or three months after the planned liftoff in the pre-accident schedule. It became the first Russian cargo mission heading to the ISS in more than six months. March 24: An unannounced launch from Plesetsk delivers "Russian Starlink" On the evening of March 23, 2026, multiple witnesses in and around town of Ukhta, northeast of the Plesetsk launch site, observed and documented a typical rocket vehicle ascending through the upper atmosphere, however neither Roskosmos nor the Ministry of Defense issued a routine announcement through the official state media in the aftermath of the event, as it would normally be done with a few exceptions since the beginning of the Space Era. Several hours later, Moscow-based Buro 1440 (INSIDER CONTENT) published a video showing the release of the first batch of Rassvet satellites (INSIDER CONTENT) from the upper stage of the launch vehicle. April 3: Soyuz launches 11the Meridian
A Soyuz-2 launch vehicle lifted off from Plesetsk on April 3, 2026, carrying a classified payload, likely to be the 11th flight of a Meridian military communications satellite. April 17: Soyuz-2-1b rocket launches a military payload In the early hours of April 17, 2026, a Soyuz-2-1b rocket lifted off from the Plesetsk military launch site with a classified cargo for the Ministry of Defense, which apparently included eight satellites. April 26: Soyuz-2-1a launches Progress MS-34 The second Russian cargo mission to the ISS in 2026 lifted off from Baikonur on April 26, just 35 days after Progress MS-33 headed to the station from a repaired launch pad at Site 31. The tight schedule was designed to restore the flow of supplies to the outpost after the interruption by the launch pad accident in November 2025. July 19: Second Starlink cluster flies on Soyuz Multiple spacecraft developed at Moscow-based Buro 1440 (INSIDER CONTENT) rode into orbit on a Soyuz-2 rocket from the Plesetsk launch site. It was presumed to be a 16-satellite cluster of near-operational Rassvet satellites (INSIDER CONTENT), following their first mission on March 23.
Summary of Soyuz rocket launches in 2026:
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