Astronauts simply flew to Earth orbit area atop a rocket emblazoned with an energy-drink advert.
The Soyuz MS-29 launch to the Worldwide House Station on Tuesday (July 14), from the Russian-run Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, used a Soyuz rocket festooned with adverts for Лимонад (“Lemonade”) LIT ENERGY. The adverts are seen in pictures of the rocket’s rollout on July 11, revealed here and here through NASA’s Flickr account.
The Soyuz used for the launch additionally featured drawings from kids with most cancers — in addition to the phrase “Life has no finish” — to promote the Unity Charitable Basis, in response to a Russian-language state media report machine-translated into English. The marketing campaign is a part of a collection in assist of the inspiration that started in November 2025, the media report added.
To make sure, the Russian area company Roscosmos (like different area companies) typically adorns its rockets with colourful art work and logos that won’t essentially lead to cost. In June 2018, for instance, a Soyuz launched with a FIFA World Cup logo which will have been a publicity campaign to promote the soccer competitors, which was occurring that month in Russia.
Whereas there have been some experiments by different area companies concerning promoting — anybody keep in mind the space cola wars? — here are a few notable examples from Russia and its predecessor state, the Soviet Union.
- A 1990 cosmonaut launch, partly for the Tokyo Broadcasting Service, carried a Japanese journalist from TBS — in addition to commercials on the facet of the Soviet Soyuz rocket. Sony, Unicharm and Pocari Sweat patches have been additionally reportedly flown on the mission.
- After the breakup of the Soviet Union, the Mir area station featured advertisements for firms like RadioShack, Pepsi and Israel’s Tnuva Milk.
- A Pizza Hut ad flew on a Russian Proton rocket in 2000 for roughly $1.25 million (almost $3 million in immediately’s {dollars}). The restaurant chain then adopted up in 2001 with a particular space pizza delivery — however utilizing salami, as it’s extra shelf-stable than pepperoni.
So Russia’s observe of launching adverts into area shouldn’t be new. Nonetheless, Ars Technica has instructed that contractions in the Russian economy led to very latest modifications within the nation’s legal guidelines for area promoting that would result in extra examples like this.
Russia’s unsanctioned invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 triggered many worldwide partnerships in area (and different initiatives) to collapse, which Ars believes could have led to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s authorization for recurring area adverts. The brand new laws was cited on Roscosmos’ Telegram account in October 2025, the Ars report added.
“In line with the amendments, Roscosmos has been granted the best, efficient January 1, 2026, to put promoting on area objects owned by each the state company itself and federally,” stated the Roscosmos assertion, in response to Ars. “The amendments will create a mechanism for attracting non-public funding in Russian area exploration, and cut back the burden on the state finances.”
Roscosmos and NASA proceed to work collectively on the ISS regardless of sanctions imposed after the invasion of Ukraine, which is ongoing. And Tuesday’s launch marked a milestone in that cooperation, as NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman grew to become the primary together with his title to attend a Soyuz launch in eight years.
SpaceNews noted that Isaacman and Roscosmos Director Basic Dmitry Bakanov had the primary reported face-to-face assembly between the company heads because the final in-person NASA chief go to, for an October 2018 launch. After the assembly between Isaacman and Bakanov, Russia introduced a two-year extension of its ISS dedication, to 2030, in addition to an settlement in precept to proceed providing NASA astronauts seats on the Soyuz in trade for seats on industrial U.S. autos, amongst different developments.
