Luna 25

Luna 25
Names Luna-Glob lander
Mission type Technology, reconnaissance
Operator Roscosmos
Mission duration 1 year (planned)
Spacecraft properties
Manufacturer NPO Lavochkin
Launch mass 1,750 kg [1]
Start of mission
Launch date May 2021[2]
Rocket Soyuz-2.1b / Fregat-M[2][3]
Launch site Baikonur or Vostochny
Moon lander
Landing site Boguslavsky crater [4]

Luna 25 (Luna-Glob lander[5]) is a planned lunar lander mission by the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos). It will land near the lunar south pole at the Boguslavsky crater.[1] It was renamed from Luna-Glob lander to Luna 25 to emphasize the continuity of the Soviet Luna programme from the 1970s, though it is still part of what was at one point conceptualized as the Luna-Glob lunar exploration program.[6] The launch is scheduled for May 2021.[2]


History

Nascent plans for what is now Luna 25 began in the late 1990s, with the evaluation of two spacecraft designs having taken place by 1998. Attempts to revive and complete the project continued throughout the 2000s and were punctuated by an aborted attempt at international cooperation via a merger with JAXA's now-cancelled Lunar-A orbiter, and pressure from another attempted cooperative lunar mission with ISRO (which continued without Russia's involvement).[7]

Delays in the 2010s came first from the significant rework and delay brought on by the failure of Phobos-Grunt in 2011. This is the point at which the modern Luna 25 design was developed. Later, work on the lander was slowed by resource pressures being placed upon spacecraft developer NPO Lavochkin, such as the weather satellite Elektro-L No.2 and the Spektr-RG observatory[8] as well the landing platform Russia is contributing to ExoMars 2020.[9]

By 2017, the propulsion system for the spacecraft was in assembly.[10]

Mission

Initial mission plans called for a lander and orbiter, with the latter also deploying high-speed penetrators. In its current form, Luna 25 is a lander only, with a primary mission of proving out the landing technology. The mission will carry 30 kg (66 lb) of scientific instruments, including a robotic arm for soil samples and possible drilling hardware.[1][11]

The launch is currently planned for May 2021 on a Soyuz-2.1b rocket with Fregat-M upper stage, from Baikonur or Vostochny.[2]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Luna-Glob (Luna 25)". space.skyrocket.de. Retrieved 2018-03-15.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Pietrobon, Steven (11 July 2018). "Russian Launch Manifest". Retrieved 11 July 2018.
  3. ↑ Mitrofanov, Igor. "Luna-Glob” and “Luna-Resurs”: science goals, payload and status (PDF). EGU General Assembly 2014.
  4. ↑ Russia’s Luna-25 lunar landing station scheduled for 2019. Russian Aviation. 25 January 2018.
  5. ↑ Missions to the Moon Luna-27. The Planetary Society.
  6. ↑ Sputnik. "Russische Mission Luna-Glob wird in „Luna-25" umbenannt". de.sputniknews.com (in German). Retrieved 2017-11-21.
  7. ↑ "Luna-Glob". Russian Space Web. 2017-12-11. Retrieved 2018-03-15.
  8. ↑ "Luna-Glob (Luna-25) project in 2013". Russian Space Web. 2013-04-06. Retrieved 2018-03-15.
  9. ↑ "Development of the Luna-Glob project in 2014 and 2015". Russian Space Web. Retrieved 2018-03-15.
  10. ↑ "Luna-Glob's stop and go". Russian Space Web. 2017-12-15. Retrieved 2018-03-15.
  11. ↑ "Luna-Glob lander (Luna 25)". Russian Space Web. 2015-10-08. Retrieved 2018-03-15.

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