Russia's Luna-25 Lunar Lander To Be Ready For Launch In 2020 - Manufacturer

Russia's Luna-25 spacecraft that is set to test the Moon soft landing technologies will be ready for launch in 2020, the lander's developer, Lavochkin Research and Production Association (Lavochkin NPO), told Sputnik.

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 08th October, 2018) Russia's Luna-25 spacecraft that is set to test the Moon soft landing technologies will be ready for launch in 2020, the lander's developer, Lavochkin Research and Production Association (Lavochkin NPO), told Sputnik.

The Luna-25 spacecraft is projected to land at the Moon's south pole. This will be the first Russian mission to the Moon after a 40-year hiatus. The last Soviet spacecraft was launched to the Earth's satellite in 1976 and was called Luna-24. Initially, it was planned to launch the first Russian probe to the Moon in 2014. The Luna-25 lander will search for water ice in the polar region of the Moon, as well as test soft landing technology.

"The Luna-Glob [other name of the Luna-25] spacecraft will be ready for launch in 2020. The planned launch date for the Luna Resurs-1 orbiter [Luna-26] is 2022, for Luna Resource-1 lander [Luna-27] 2023," a source in Lavochkin NPO said.

In late June, the deputy director general of Russia's state space corporation Roscosmos, Mikhail Khaylov, confirmed the postponement of the launch of Russian lunar missions. According to the presentation presented by Khaylov, the Luna-25 lander was planned to be launched in 2021, the Luna-26 orbiter in 2022, and the Luna-27 lander in 2023. These three launches were earlier planned for 2019, 2021 and 2022 respectively.

The postponement of the Luna-25 mission from 2019 to 2021 was considered by the Russian academy of Sciences (RAS) Council on Space in May. In June, this decision was approved. Head researcher of the Space Research Institute Lev Zeleny then explained that the reason for the postponement lies in the ballistic conditions of landing in the southern polar region of the Moon, and not in any technical problems with the manufacture of the Luna-25.

A source in space industry then told Sputnik that the Luna-25 was initially designed to be launched by an Indian carrier rocket as part of a joint project. At the same time, fuel tanks for the landing system were designed. Their small volume limits the launch dates, and the development of new ones and the revision of the entire project for them will postpone the launch even further.

However, there are some technical reasons for the delay. Russian scientists have earlier criticized European experts who were supposed to make a soil sampler and a navigation system for the Luna-25 lander. The Europeans exceeded the weight limits for the devices, and the Russian side now has to develop them on its own.

Apart from the Federal Space Program until 2025, the possibilities of the Luna-28 lunar mission to take cryogenic soil samples, and then the Luna-29 heavy lunar rover mission, are being considered.