Colleagues at PROTENGE found an advert on Instagram selling tours for the "historic launch" of the "Soyuz-5" rocket from Baikonur. The tour was called "Sunkar: the birth of a new era", the launch was promised for 27 March, and applications closed on 21 March. March is almost over, and the rocket still hasn't taken off.
WHAT WAS ON OFFER TO TOURISTS
The kendala_travel Instagram account was enticing people to become "witnesses to a real space event": the ground shakes with the power of the engines, you watch from the best spot — and it all "stays with you for a lifetime". A tourist package for an event that never happened speaks for itself about how confidently the official launch dates for the rocket were perceived in society. And this confidence apparently had some basis, because back in 2025 it was reported that the first launch was expected in the first quarter of 2026.
HISTORY OF DELAYS
The "Baiterek" project is a joint Kazakh-Russian initiative to build a launch complex at Baikonur for "Soyuz-5" carrier rockets. Its history reads more like a sequence of ever-receding deadlines. In 2021, the launch was planned for 2023. In 2023, it was postponed to 2025. And in 2025, it was announced for early 2026. And now, March 2026 is ending once again without a launch.
WHAT FBRK FOUND OUT
In January 2026, the FBRK editorial team sent an official request to the Ministry of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Development asking about the current status of the project. The ministry reported that equipment deliveries had been underway since February 2025, autonomous tests began in June, and on 11 November 2025, comprehensive technical testing started.
According to the ministry, the exact date of the first launch was to be determined by the Kazakh-Russian Interstate Commission — upon completion of the full test cycle. The total cost of the project at that time was 90.8 billion tenge, of which 81.3 billion — almost 90% of the budget — had already been spent.
WHAT NEXT
The question of new deadlines remains open. Testing continues, funds have already been invested, but there is still no exact launch date. However, we urge you to rely on official sources of information about the project, rather than on advertising promises for tours on social media.
For now, the rocket has not yet risen into the sky, and the tourist season built around the "historic event" appears to have already passed.