With “Luna-25”, Russian space travel wants to tie in with Soviet times: for the first time in almost 50 years, a Russian space probe will be brought to the moon. You should collect rock samples there.
For the first time in 47 years, Russia has launched a flight to the moon with the “Luna-25” spacecraft. The probe for exploring the moon is to land there at the South Pole and look for water, among other things.
The Soyuz-2.1b carrier rocket with the probe on board took off as planned from the new Vostochny cosmodrome in the Amur region at 9.10 a.m. local time (1.10 a.m. CEST). The Russian space agency Roskosmos broadcast the launch via live stream. The travel time to the lunar orbit is almost five days. The landing on the moon is planned around August 21, Roskosmos told the AFP news agency. On August 23, an Indian spacecraft that was launched on July 14 is also scheduled to land on the moon.
Start has been postponed several times
The first Russian mission since 1976 had been postponed several times due to technical problems. Actually, the probe should have been on the way for a long time. The first planned launch date for a lunar probe was 2012, and May 2022 was last targeted.
“Luna-25” is part of the Russian lunar program. This envisages building a space station on the celestial body by 2040. Russia is thus building on its Soviet “Luna” program, in which space probes also brought moon rocks to Earth. “Luna-25” should also collect and analyze soil samples. The aim is to develop a technology for a soft landing.
Roskosmos originally worked with the European space agency ESA on the Russian lunar program. However, after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine more than 17 months ago, ESA ended its cooperation with Moscow.