Russia's space chief confirms the launch of Luna 25 Moon mission postponed to 2023

Yuri Borisov, the Chief of Russia’s space agency Roscosmos, confirmed that the Luna 25 mission has been postponed to 2023. Meant to be Russia’s first lunar mission, Luna 25 was being developed in partnership with the European Space Agency (ESA) and was initially scheduled to launch in September this year. However, the ongoing Ukraine crisis created a rift between ESA and Roscosmos which caused a delay in the mission’s launch. 

Notably, Luna 25 would mark Russia's first mission to the Moon and its launch would bring Moscow among the countries to have successfully landed on the lunar surface. 

The confirmation of the mission's postponement was made by Borisov on the sidelines of the Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) just a few weeks after a report by TASS News Agency reported about its possibility. Back in July this year, it was revealed that the Doppler speed and distance sensor to be used in the Luna 25 lander underperformed during the recent precise measurement tests. This sensor is what would guarantee a soft touchdown of the lander on the Moon. 

When launched, the lander would head toward the Boguslawsky crater in the south pole of the Moon. The purpose of the mission is to study the composition of the polar regolith as well as the plasma and dust components of the lunar polar exosphere. Luna 25 includes a four-legged probe equipped with landing rockets and propellant tanks, an upper compartment that holds the solar panels, communication equipment, and onboard computers. Weighing 800 kg, the lander would be operational for about a year. 

ESA suspends lunar missions with Roscosmos

The Luna 25 mission is not the only one where ESA has decided to end cooperation with Roscosmos over the Ukraine crisis. It will be followed by Luna 26 and Luna 27 which were scheduled to launch in 2024 and 2025, respectively. Luna 26 has an objective of installing an orbiter into the lunar orbit for remote scientific measurements and as a possible communications relay for the next lander mission.

Luna 27, on the other hand, is also a planned landing mission much bigger in size than its predecessors with an aim to study the composition of the soil near the lunar south pole.