Russia’s first mission to the moon in decades is reportedly to go ahead in July with the robotic Luna 25 lander as the global space race gathers speed.
The mission is to the south pole of the moon with the probe planned to land near to the Boguslavsky Crater, said the Russian space agency Roscosmos.
Its launch has now been announced for July 13 this year after its latest postponement last September due to a problem with a speed and distance sensor on the Luna 25 lander.
Yuri Borisov, head of Roscosmos admitted at the time that the sensor which was needed for Luna 25 to make a safe landing had underperformed during testing causing the delay, reported TASS.
The space agency further explained that the characteristics of the Doppler speed and range metre were out of sync with the technical specifications of the lander.
And now Roscamos has stated: “The launch of the Luna 25 spacecraft , taking into account the space ‘window’ in 2023 is scheduled for July 13, 2023,” reported TASS.
Luna 25 is the first mission to the moon in the modern history of Russia with the Soviet Union, which collapsed in the early 1990s, having sent a series of probes in the past.
The robotic moon lander has been built by aerospace company NPO Lavochin and it is now confirmed to be ready for launch following a series of postponements with it due to have taken place last spring before then being delayed to September last year.
Luna 25 will be used to study the surface of the moon and the atmosphere with its time there due to be at least one year.
It will follow on from Luna 24 in 1976, and two other Soviet missions before that to recover earth and ground samples.
NASA states about the mission: “Luna 25, also designated the Luna-Glob-Lander, is a Russian lunar lander mission planned for launch in 2023. It is targeted to the south polar region of the Moon.
"There are two primary scientific objectives of the mission: to study composition of the polar regolith, and to study the plasma and dust components of the lunar polar exosphere.”
It comes as the world is facing a new space race targeting the moon with China and the US both prominent forces.
NASA administrator Bill Nelson reportedly said that the battle is over who will lay claim to the moon's rich resources.
“It is a fact, we’re in a space race,” Nelson previously told Politico of China's plans. “And it is true that we better watch out that they don’t get to a place on the moon under the guise of scientific research. And it is not beyond the realm of possibility that they say, ‘Keep out, we’re here, this is our territory'.”
