A rocket was assembled on Vostochny for the first lunar mission in modern Russia

At the Vostochny cosmodrome, specialists completed the general assembly of the Soyuz-2.1b rocket for the launch of the Luna-25 automatic station, reported in the press service of the State Corporation “Roscosmos”.

The launch of a launch vehicle with the Fregat upper stage and the Luna-25 station, which planned on August 11, will be the first lunar mission in the history of modern Russia.

Roskosmos added that the state commission allowed the rocket to be removed and installed at the launch site on August 8.

Soyuz-2.1b was manufactured by the Progress Rocket and Space Center, the upper stage Fregat and the Luna-25 station were manufactured by the S.A. Lavochkin (part of Roskosmos).

Experts note that Luna-25 will have to work out the soft landing technology, take and analyze the soil and conduct scientific research, including the study of the upper layer of the surface regolith in the region of the South Pole of the Moon, as well as the lunar exosphere.

“In terms of landing, Luna-25 is fundamentally different from its predecessors: Soviet lunar stations landed in the equatorial zone, the new station must make a soft landing in the near-polar region with difficult terrain,” Roscosmos added.

Initial launch planned for July. The decision to postpone it was due to the need to “carry out additional measures that will ensure the stable operation of ground controls during the stages of corrections and landing on the surface.” The station was delivered to the Vostochny Cosmodrome on July 11.