Falcon’s nest delays Soyuz-5 rocket launch at Kazakhstan’s Baikonur

The first test launch of the Soyuz-5/Sunkar rocket from Kazakhstan’s Baiterek space complex was briefly disrupted by an unexpected natural obstacle—a falcon’s nest discovered on the launch site, officials said.

According to Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Information Technology and Digital Development, digital systems halted the launch process after detecting an anomaly that engineers initially struggled to explain, Caliber.Az reports via Kazakh media.

“An event occurred at Baikonur that no computer could have predicted. The launch of the new ‘Sunkar’/‘Soyuz-5’ rocket at the ‘Baiterek’ site nearly failed not because of technical malfunctions, but because of an ordinary falcon’s nest,” officials said.

The issue was traced to a live nest containing falcon eggs located within the launch infrastructure. Specialists decided to relocate the nest to a safe area, after which systems returned to normal and preparations resumed.

The test launch ultimately proceeded successfully, with the rocket’s first and second stages performing as expected and a mock payload placed into its designated trajectory.

The Baikonur Cosmodrome is central to the Baiterek project, a joint initiative between Kazakhstan and Russia aimed at developing national launch capabilities and modernising space infrastructure.

As part of the project, launch systems, control systems, fueling systems, and safety systems have been modernised. In total, more than 40 technical systems are involved.

The Soyuz-5/Sunkar medium-class rocket is designed to carry up to 17 tons into orbit and uses kerosene and liquid oxygen as fuel, part of efforts to improve environmental performance.

By Sabina Mammadli