Russia launches Luna 25: First lunar mission in 47 years

Report by Paridhi Agarwal

Russia launched its lunar mission, Luna 25, successfully on 10^th August 2023 at 23:10 (UTC) on a Soyuz-2.1b rocket. Launched by the Russian Space Agency Rococosmos from the Vosthochny Cosmodrome (Russian spaceport) on the country’s far east, it is Russia’s first lunar mission after Luna 24 in 1976. It is the first domestically produced moon explorer in modern Russian history.

The spacecraft is roughly the size of a small car and weighs 1.6 tonnes. It will land on the lunar surface between August 21 and 23, embarking on a 5.5-day long journey.

Luna-25’s main objectives are to test technology for future soft landings on the moon, analyse lunar dirt and rocks, and conduct other scientific research. 

The Luna programme

The Luna programme or Lunik is a series of robotic spacecrafts sent to the Moon by the Soviet Union (later Russia) between the years 1959 and 2023.

Out of these 15 were successful.

These spacecrafts were either orbiters or landers and have accomplished many firsts in space exploration. Some of the firsts accomplished by the Luna spacecraft include the first lunar satellite, first flyby of the moon, the impact and soft landing on the moon, first sample and first analysis of lunar soil. These spacecrafts also performed various experiments like checking the Moon’s chemical composition, gravity, temperature, and radiation. Previous spacecrafts like the Luna 16, Luna 20, and Luna 24 have also brought samples of the lunar soil back to Earth. A total of 301 g of soil sample was brought in the three missions.

Luna 25 and Chandrayaan 3

With the launch of Luna 25, news agencies across the world have started labelling this as a race between Russia’s Luna 25 and India’s Chandrayaan 3. Both are targeting a historical soft landing on the southern side of the moon. While Chandrayaan is expected to land around August 23, the possible landing date for Luna 25 is August 21.

While Chandrayaan is on a 40-day journey to the moon, Luna 25 will take 5 days to reach the lunar orbit and spend 5 – 7 days in lunar orbit before attempting a soft landing on the moon. The longer duration required by the Chandrayaan is because of its lower power and its reliability on the gravity of earth and moon to make the journey. Luna 25 is a high-powered rocket with high fuel capacity which does not need external help. Also, Chandrayaan has a mission lifespan of 14 Earth days while that of Luna 25 is one year.