Russia reveals plans for lunar program after launching historic Luna-25 to the Moon

Russian space agency Roscosmos launched the Luna-25 Moon mission from the Vostochny launch facility on August 11, the first in 47 years from Russia's soil. The mission includes a lander that will touchdown near the 95-km wide Boguslawsky Crater at the South Pole of the Moon on August 21. While the Boguslawsky Crater is the primary landing site, sites near the Manzini Crater and Pentland A Crater are also backup options. 

According to Roscosmos, the lander launched with a mass of 1,800 kg and it will enter lunar orbit on August 16. With 31 kg of payloads, the lander will drill lunar samples to analyse the lunar soil, study the lunar exosphere and radiation levels and take pictures of its surroundings over the course of one year (its lifespan). Russia chose the south pole of the Moon because it is believed to have vast deposits of ice in locations such as the Boguslawsky Crater. These ice deposits could be used for the production of fuel and oxygen during long-term missions. 

(Luna-25 lander; Image: Roscosmos)

Russia dedicates entire decade to lunar missions

Russia has kickstarted its mission to set up a permanent base on the Moon with the launch of Luna-25. According to Russian state media TASS News, Roscosmos chief Yuri Borisov revealed that the next lunar mission will be Luna-26 in 2027, followed by Luna-27 in 2028 and Luna 38 in 2030 or later. 

The latest mission by Russia is the first of its program to set up a sustainable lunar base and two observatories by 2040. Besides, Roscosmos has also planned to land cosmonauts on the Moon between 2025 and 2035 to build full-fledged bases. 

Will Roscosmos beat ISRO to the Moon?

Roscosmos is not the only one aiming for the Moon as India's Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft is also hovering in lunar orbit. Chandrayaan-3 was launched by ISRO on July 14 and its landing is targeted for 5:47 pm IST on August 23 in the lunar south pole. Despite launching first, India's lander Vikram (weighing 1752 kg) will land later because it took an efficient path to save fuel. Chandrayaan-3 (which includes both the lander and the propulsion module) made five orbits of Earth before entering lunar orbit on August 5. 

(The Vikram lander; Image: ISRO)

In the lunar orbit, the spacecraft will again make a few elliptical orbits before settling down in a 100 km circular orbit. Luna-25, on the other hand, will enter the lunar orbit on August 16 and attain the same circular orbit before descending for a landing. 

Chandrayaan-3 will be India's second attempt to land on the Moon after Chandrayaan-2 which launched on July 22, 2019 but crashed after losing contact. For Russia, the last Moon landing mission dates back to August 1976 with Luna-24 when the Soviet Union was still in existence. If Luna-25 aces the landing, Russia will become the fourth country to land on the Moon and the first nation to touch down in the unexplored lunar south pole.