Editing Launch escape system (section)

== Usage ==
[[File:ISRO Pad abort test Crew Module lifting off.jpg|thumb|[[Indian Space Research Organization|ISRO]] [[Gaganyaan]] boilerplate during its launch escape system [[ISRO Pad Abort Test|pad abort test]], 5 July 2018.]]

During the [[Mercury-Redstone 1]] mission on November 21, 1960, the escape system unintentionally blasted off from the Mercury spacecraft after the Redstone booster engine shut down just after ignition on the pad. The spacecraft remained attached to the booster on the ground.{{Citation needed|date=November 2024}}

An accidental pad firing of a launch escape system occurred during the attempted launch of the uncrewed [[Soyuz 7K-OK No.1]] spacecraft on December 14, 1966. The vehicle's strap-on boosters did not ignite, preventing the rocket from leaving the pad. About 30 minutes later, while the vehicle was being secured, the LES engine fired. Separation charges started a fire in the rocket's third stage, leading to an explosion that killed a pad worker. During the attempted launch, the booster switched from external to internal power as it normally would do, which then activated the abort sensing system. Originally it was thought that the LES firing was triggered by a gantry arm that tilted the rocket past seven degrees, meeting one of the defined in-flight abort conditions.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.astronautix.com/articles/kamaries.htm|title=Kamanin Diaries|website=Encyclopedia Astronautica|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130817172305/http://astronautix.com/articles/kamaries.htm|archive-date=17 August 2013|url-status=dead|access-date=18 May 2016}}</ref>

[[File:Soyuz T-10-1 abort.jpg|thumb|Soviet officers watch as the [[Soyuz T-10-1|Soyuz T-10]] capsule aborts from the launch pad (September 1983).]]
The first usage with a crewed mission occurred during the attempt to launch [[Soyuz T-10-1]] on September 26, 1983.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2014-11-18 |title=A Brief History of Launch Aborts |url=https://www.drewexmachina.com/2014/11/18/a-brief-history-of-launch-aborts/ |access-date=2024-10-10 |website=Drew Ex Machina |language=en-US}}</ref> The rocket caught fire, just before launch, and the LES carried the crew capsule clear, seconds before the rocket exploded. The crew were subjected to an acceleration of 14 to 17 [[g-force|''g'']] (140 to 170&nbsp;m/s<sup>2</sup>) for five seconds and were badly bruised. Reportedly, the capsule reached an altitude of {{convert|2000|m|ft|sp=us|sigfig=2}} and landed {{convert|4|km|mi|sp=us}} from the launch pad.

On October 11, 2018 the crew of [[Soyuz MS-10]] separated from their launch vehicle after a booster rocket separation failure occurred at an altitude of 50&nbsp;km during the ascent. However, at this point in the mission the LES had already been ejected and was not used to separate the crew capsule from the rest of the launch vehicle. Backup motors were used to separate the crew capsule resulting in the crew landing safely and uninjured approximately 19 minutes after launch.{{Citation needed|date=November 2024}}

On September 12, 2022 during Blue Origin [[New Shepard]] flight [[Blue Origin NS-23|NS-23]], the booster's [[BE-3]] engine suffered a failure at about one minute into the flight. The launch escape system was triggered and the capsule successfully separated and landed nominally. The flight was carrying microgravity scientific payloads in the crew capsule, without crew on board.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Davenport |first1=Justin |title=New Shepard suffers in-flight abort on uncrewed NS-23 mission |url=https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2022/09/new-shepard-ns-23/ |website=NASASpaceflight.com |date=12 September 2022 |access-date=12 September 2022}}</ref>