Luna-Glob [Lavochkin]
The Russian lunar lander mission Luna-Glob or Luna 25 will be the next Russian lunar mission after a decades-long hiatus.
After a very convoluted definition process, going from orbiter missions with impactors and small landers, to combined orbiter and lander missions, the mission was finally developed as a lunar polar lander.
The lander will land near the Lunar south pole at the Boguslavsky crater. It will carry a 30 kg science payload containing a soil-sampling robotic arm and possibly additional surface-drilling hardware.
Luna 25 will feature a 30 kg payload composed by 9 notional science instruments:
ESA's Pilot-D navigation camera was to be flown on Luna-25, but was removed due to sanctions resulting from the Russian invasion in Ukraine.
Launch is planned on a Soyuz-2-1b Fregat rocket, either from Baikonur or Vostoichny. Although a launch in 2018 or 2019 was baselined, it was delayed to at least 2022. Due to software issues, the launch was postponed to 2023.
Nation: | Russia |
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Type / Application: | Lunar lander |
Operator: | |
Contractors: | NPO Lavochkin |
Equipment: | |
Configuration: | |
Propulsion: | |
Power: | Solar cells, RTG, batteries |
Lifetime: | > 1 year |
Mass: | ~1750 kg |
Orbit: |
Satellite | COSPAR | Date | LS | Launch Vehicle | Remarks | |
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Luna 25 (Luna-Glob Lander) | - | 2023 | Vo LC-1S | Soyuz-2-1b Fregat |