Issue 78

09 Flash Archive · Members Only

Russia Launches Lunar Mission

11 Aug 2023: Russia launched the Luna 25 spacecraft from Vostochny Cosmodrome, aboard a Soyuz-2.1b with a Fregat-M upper stage. This is the first lunar exploration mission by the Russian Federation: the previous spacecraft, Luna 24, was launched in 1976 by the Soviet Union. The entire future of the lunar program in…

Author Greg Gillinger Published July 29, 2025

– The Soyuz-2.1b placed the spacecraft into a 200km circular orbit. After about one hour, the Frega-M fired its engine for the first time to send the lander on a trans-lunar trajectory. After two burns, at a distance of about 3,000 km from Earth, the Fregat stage separated, and Luna 25 will make the remaining journey to the Moon using its own engines.

– Luna 25 is targeting the Moon’s south polar region, where the presence of water ice has attracted the attention of numerous national space programs.

– The spacecraft is scheduled to enter lunar orbit on 16 Aug, and attempt a landing as early as 21 Aug. If successful, Russia plans to make a year’s worth of scientific observations.

– Yuri Borisov, the head of Russia’s space program, stated the typical chance of success for such a mission was about 70 percent.

– This mission is emerging as a marquee test of the Russia’s ability to chart a new path. For future missions, Russia is looking to develop electronics components that it would have bought from foreign companies.

– Vladimir Putin is attempting to strengthen political and economic ties with non-Western countries and sees Russia’s space program as one prong of that effort. When he hosted African leaders for a summit meeting in St. Petersburg last month, he promised to expand Russia’s cooperation with African countries “in the field of space technologies and their applications.”

– Per Anatoly Zak, “The architecture of the lander is very similar to what the Soviet Union used to build for landing on the moon in the ’70s. However, it’s a scaled-down version.”

– Luna-25’s main goal is to test the technologies, setting the groundwork for future lunar missions.

– During the planned yearlong mission, onboard experiments will scoop up and analyze soil samples. Ideally, the lander could dig up some water ice below the surface.

Issue 78

Luna-25 mission profile from Earth to the Moon

Luna-25 lunar-orbit and landing mission profile

Luna-25 lunar lander configuration