Sensationalist title.
The launchpad suffered (possibly serious) damage during a launch.
Sensationalist yes, but technically accurate.
I’ll take that over an outright wrong sensational title.
Russian crew launches are done for an indefinite period. It’s entirely possible that Baikonur is just out of commission. If the pad is even capable of launching in its current condition, doing so would likely cause even more damage. So while the pad itself isn’t exactly destroyed, its capability for crewed launches certainly is. Until repairs are made.
Russia’s only crewed-mission launch site has suffered major damage following a rocket launch on Thursday.
The three-person crew, which included Nasa astronaut Chris Williams and two Russian crewmates, made it safely to the International Space Station (ISS) on Thursday evening.
Roscosmos shared footage of the launch, which showed part of the launchpad collapse into an exhaust trench below as a result of the rocket’s blast.
