MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Russia's Roscosmos State Space Corporation on Friday said it approved a model of the Luna-25 space station created as part of the development project Luna-Glob Moon exploration program with the start of the mission scheduled for 2019.
“The automatic interplanetary station Luna-25 will be the first mission of the Russian lunar program. The aim of the project is to create an automatic explorer for complex research on the surface of the Moon in the circumpolar region. The development project Luna-Glob will be implemented within 3.5 years,” Roscosmos said in a statement.
Lavochkin Director General Sergei Lemeshevsky pointed out the need to continue this work and ordered the use of the experience and managerial approaches gained in all the next stages of the Luna-Glob project as well as the international project ExoMars.
The Russian lunar program also includes the launch of lunar orbiter Luna-26 in 2020, which will conduct remote research, while the Luna-27 lander mission is planned for 2021.
The Luna-29 sample return mission is planned for 2024.