Soyuz MS-10 aborted flight - crewsigned launch cover

Soyuz MS-10 Launch-Abort Cover — Signed by Alexey Ovchinin and Nick Hague

Rare and historically significant Soyuz MS-10 launch cover, personally hand-signed by the mission’s complete two-man crew: Roscosmos commander Alexey Ovchinin and NASA astronaut Nick Hague.

The cover features an attractive mission cachet commemorating a flight that became one of the most dramatic crewed launch emergencies of the modern space age.

Soyuz MS-10 lifted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome on 11 October 2018, carrying Ovchinin and Hague toward the International Space Station as members of Expedition 57. Approximately two minutes after launch, a malfunction occurred during the separation of the Soyuz rocket’s first-stage boosters. One booster failed to separate correctly, struck the vehicle’s core stage and caused the rocket to lose stability.

The Soyuz spacecraft’s automatic emergency system reacted immediately, separating the crew capsule from the failing launch vehicle. Ovchinin and Hague then experienced a steep ballistic descent before landing safely near Dzhezkazgan, Kazakhstan. Search-and-rescue teams reached the capsule shortly afterward, and both crew members were recovered in good condition.

The subsequent investigation traced the accident to a deformed separation-sensor component introduced during assembly of the launch vehicle at Baikonur. Although the mission never reached orbit, the successful operation of the Soyuz escape system demonstrated the spacecraft’s ability to protect its crew during a catastrophic launch failure.

Ovchinin and Hague were later reassigned to fly together aboard Soyuz MS-12, successfully reaching the International Space Station in March 2019—bringing a fitting conclusion to the partnership forged during the MS-10 emergency.

Signed by both men who directly experienced the abort, this cover is an especially compelling piece of modern spaceflight history. It represents not only a failed attempt to reach orbit, but also the successful rescue of a crew under extreme conditions and the effectiveness of one of the world’s most important spacecraft safety systems.

Attractive cachet and a rare dual-signed collectible from an extraordinary Soyuz mission.