appConfigEntityId

bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

isVideo

articlePageQuery

article

articleSchemaContent

content

hooksArticlePageAdvertisementConfigArticle

appConfig

filter

json

liveArticle

Agence France-Presse

Russia said it plans to launch a lunar lander this week after multiple delays, hoping to return to the moon for the first time in nearly 50 years.
Russian space agency Roscosmos said it had scheduled the launch of the Luna-25 lander for the early hours of Friday.
With the lunar mission, Russia’s first since 1976, Moscow is seeking to restart and build on the Soviet Union’s pioneering space programme.
The launch is the first mission of Moscow’s new lunar project and comes as President Vladimir Putin looks to strengthen cooperation in space with China after ties with the West broke down following the start of Moscow’s offensive in Ukraine last year.

Engineers have assembled a Soyuz rocket at the Vostochny cosmodrome in the Russian Far East for the launch of the lander, Roscosmos said on Monday.
“The Luna-25 will have to practise soft landing, take and analyse soil samples and conduct long-term scientific research,” Roscosmos said in a statement.
Final Ariane 5 rocket blasts off amid Europe rocket crisis
The four-legged lander, which weighs around 800kg (1,750 pounds), is expected to touch down in the region of the lunar south pole. By contrast, most previous moon landings have occurred near the lunar equator.
The spacecraft is expected to reach the moon around five days after launch.
After Putin sent troops to Ukraine last year, the European Space Agency (ESA) said it would not cooperate with Moscow on the upcoming Luna-25 launch as well as future 26 and 27 missions.
Despite the pull-out, Moscow said it would go ahead with its lunar plans and replace ESA equipment with Russian-made scientific instruments.
Speaking at the Vostochny cosmodrome last year, Putin said the Soviet Union put the first man into space in 1961 despite “total” sanctions.
The Kremlin chief insisted Moscow would similarly continue to develop its lunar programme despite current Western sanctions in response to the assault in Ukraine.

“We are guided by the ambition of our ancestors to move forward, despite any difficulties and any attempts to prevent us in this movement from the outside,” Putin said.
In June, the head of Russia’s space agency Roscosmos, Yuri Borisov, described the upcoming launch as high-risk.
“This mission involves landing at the south pole. No one in the world has ever done such things,” he said during a meeting with Putin.
“The probability of successful completion of such missions is estimated at around 70 per cent.”
Rough terrain makes a landing there difficult, but the south pole is a prized destination because scientists believe it may hold significant quantities of ice that could be used to extract fuel and oxygen, as well as for drinking water.
Russia to extend use of International Space Station, reversing 2024 exit plan
Ahead of Friday’s launch, local authorities said that residents would be evacuated from the village of Shakhtinsky in the far-eastern region of Khabarovsk, where the rocket’s boosters are expected to fall.
During the last Soviet Moon mission in 1976, the Luna-24 brought back samples of lunar soil.
With Sputnik, the Soviet Union launched the first man-made satellite into space in 1957 and later sent into orbit the first animal, a dog named Laika, the first man, Yuri Gagarin, and the first woman, Valentina Tereshkova.
But compared with the Soviet era, modern Russia has struggled to innovate and its space industry is fighting to secure state funding while the Kremlin prioritises military spending.
Russia’s space agency is still reliant on Soviet-designed technology and has faced a number of setbacks, including corruption scandals and botched launches.
Moscow is also falling behind in the global space race, facing tough competition from the United States and China.
Additional reporting by Reuters


How stratospheric balloon flights could be about to redefine space tourism

Japan joins hunt for aliens. Can it solve the ‘Wow! Signal’ mystery?

US lawmakers warn China is top space rival as race to the moon intensifies

Trump’s Golden Dome aimed at combating China’s ‘hypersonic weapons, cruise missiles’

Space

Russia to launch first lunar mission in nearly 50 years

Russian space agency Roscosmos said that its Luna-25 spacecraft would take five days to fly to the moon. Photo: AFP 

The Luna-25 lander. Photo: Roscosmos via AFP

A Soyuz carrying the Luna-25 lander. Photo: Roscosmos via AFP

Final Ariane 5 rocket blasts off amid Europe rocket crisis

The 117th and final Ariane 5 rocket flight takes place at around 7pm on Wednesday from Europe’s spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. Photo: AFP

Russia to extend use of International Space Station, reversing 2024 exit plan

The International Space Station is seen in an undated photo released by the Roscosmos State Space Corporation. Photo: Roscosmos State Space Corporation via AP

Russia’s space agency Roscosmos plans to issue bonds to finance its satellite programme

A handout photo by the Russian State Space Corporation Roscosmos showed the Soyuz MS-20 spacecraft blasting off to the International Space Station (ISS) from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on 8 December 2021. Photo: EPA-EFE

News

World

Russia & Central Asia

Russia aims to land Luna-25 spacecraft in south pole of the moon, following five-day journey from Earth
Moscow last sent the probe Luna-24 to the moon in 1976 when Russia was then part of the Soviet Union


Russian space agency Roscosmos said it had scheduled the launch of the Luna-25 lander for the early hours of Friday.


Russia

Vladimir Putin

International Space Station (ISS)