MOSCOW (AFP) – Russia said yesterday 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.
The launch, which is scheduled for the early hours of Friday, comes as Ukraine offensive stretches into a second year, sparking huge tensions with the West.
With the Luna-25 lander, Russia’s first since 1976, Moscow is keen to restart and build upon a pioneering Soviet-era lunar programme.
The Russian space agency said that a Soyuz rocket had been assembled at the Vostochny cosmodrome in the Russian Far East for the launch of the Luna-25.
“The launch is on August 11,” Roscosmos said in a statement. “The Luna-25 will have to practise soft landing, take and analyse soil samples and conduct long-term scientific research,” the statement added.
The four-legged lander, which weighs around 800 kilogrammes, is expected to touch down in the region of the lunar south pole.
By contrast, most Moon landings occur near the lunar equator. The launch is the first mission of Moscow’s new lunar programme.
