Russia's Luna 25 launch likely to be postponed to 2023 after ESA's boycott: Report

Russia’s Luna 25 mission, which was targeted for launch in September end of this year, is likely to launch no earlier than 2023. According to TASS, this delay would result from the soft-landing device of the mission, which failed to meet the requirements during the recent tests. "In order to implement either of the options, a launch delay will be required until 2023 at the earliest", TASS reported, citing one of its sources. 

The failure is related to an instrument named the Doppler speed and distance sensor, which has been developed by the Russian government-owned Rostech State Corporation. It underperformed while taking measurements during the tests conducted in May and June this year. 

Notably, the Luna 25 was being developed by the Russian space agency, Roscosmos, in collaboration with the European Space Agency (ESA). However, the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict prompted the latter to suspend the mission from its end. Under this mission, Europe was supposed to develop a navigation camera called PILOT-D for the Russian autonomous lander. However, ESA's exit has now made Roscosmos work for the same. 

The ESA announced in mid-April that it is also suspending the Luna 26 and Luna 27 which would have followed the former's predecessor. Meanwhile, the anomaly in the landing device suggests only an 80% probability of a successful landing on the lunar surface, which calls for remodelling of either the device or the landing plan. It is worth noting, however, that no official confirmation over the postponement of the launch has been made as the research equipment has successfully passed the tests. 

Luna 25, 26 and 27

Although the Luna 25 has been suspended from Europe's end, Roscosmos is still working to carry out the mission on its own. Earlier, the ESA also terminated the joint ExoMars mission, following which Roscosmos' now-retired chief Dmitry Rogozin said that Russia could separately launch the Mars mission. ExoMars involved sending a European rover inside a Russian lander and the launch was targeted in September this year.

As for the lunar missions, Luna 25 is aimed at exploring the Boguslavsky crater located on the lunar south pole. After Luna 25, the two parties had agreed on Luna 26 and 27 which were targeted for launch two and three years from now, respectively. Luna 26 involves installing an orbiter into the lunar orbit for remote scientific measurements and as a possible communications relay for the next lander mission, Luna 27, meant to study the soil composition of the Moon's South pole.