Date | 19:01 MSK (16:01 GMT) 18 March 1980 |
---|---|
Location | Plesetsk Cosmodrome Site 43 |
Casualties | |
48 dead[a] | |
87 injured (43 seriously) |
The 1980 Plesetsk launch pad disaster was the explosion of a Vostok-2M rocket carrying a Tselina-D satellite during fueling at Site 43 of the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in Mirny at 19:01 local time (16:01 GMT) on 18 March 1980, two hours and fifteen minutes before the intended launch time. Forty-four people were killed in the initial fire and four more soon died in the hospital from burns. It is the second deadliest space exploration related disaster in history.
Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha>
tags or {{efn}}
templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}}
template or {{notelist}}
template (see the help page).