Environmental impact of the launch vehicle “Soyuz-FG” emergency falling in Kazakhstan
Semenkov I. Bekeshev E. Stepanova Y. Karpachevskiy A. Lednev S. Klink G. Yerzhanov Y. Bapyshev A. Koroleva T.
January 2025Springer
Environmental Science and Pollution Research
2025#32Issue 52592 - 2605 pp.
On October 11, 2018, in the Ulytau region of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Soyuz-FG launch vehicle carrying a crewed MS-10 spacecraft failed. It resulted in the release into the fragile arid ecosystems of rocket propellants, i.e., jet fuel of toxic hazard class 4 and carcinogenic unsymmetrical dimethyl hydrazine (heptyl, UDMH). In this paper, we described the results of soil surveys conducted in 2018, 2019, 2022, and 2023. In the fragile arid ecosystems in Central Kazakhstan, due to the emergency falling of the launch vehicle, environmental consequences were registered at a total area of about 1350 m2, including spillage of jet fuel and UDMH in the territories of 400 m2 and 9 m2, respectively. The third stage disintegrated and fell down within an area of 4.4 km2. Immediately after the emergency crash of the second stage, the content of total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPHs) reached 1645 mg/kg, decreasing 10 times in 3.5 years. At the fuel tank falling site, the concentration of highly toxic carcinogenic UDMH and nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA) reached 22 and 9 mg/kg, which is many times higher than the maximum permissible concentrations. Four years after reclamation, the content of both substances did not exceed 0.05 mg/kg—the lower limit of sensitivity of a highly performed liquid chromatography. The content of TPHs, water-soluble Cl− and SO42−, and alkalinity from CO32− was significantly (p < 0.05) higher in autumn of 2022, and the content of total N, water-soluble NO3− and NO2−, and alkalinity from HCO3− was higher in spring of 2023. In spring and autumn, the content of exchangeable Ca2+ and Mg2+, cation exchange capacity was similar (p > 0.05). The presented materials can be used to optimize the restoration of disturbed arid ecosystems and future monitoring work at sites of regular landing of the first stages and emergency crash sites of launch vehicles.
Carcinogenic chemicals , Ecological consequences , Ecological damage , Environmental impact , Nitrogen , Remediation , Rocket propellant components
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Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russian Federation
Branch Office of the Republican State Enterprise “Infracos”, Almaty, Kazakhstan
Almaty University of Power Engineering and Telecommunications named after G.Daukeev, Almaty, Kazakhstan
National Research University Higher School of Economics, Moscow, Russian Federation
Lomonosov Moscow State University
Branch Office of the Republican State Enterprise “Infracos”
Almaty University of Power Engineering and Telecommunications named after G.Daukeev
National Research University Higher School of Economics
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