Borisov announced the launch of the next Luna station in 2027

Roscosmos plans to launch the next two Luna spacecraft in 2027 and 2028, and a third in 2030 or later. This was stated by the head of the state corporation Yuri Borisov.

“We hope that in 2027 we will launch Luna-26, in 2028 – Luna-27, and somewhere by 2030, after 2030 – Luna-28,” – he said (quote according to RIA Novosti).

Borisov added that after that there would be a transition “to a new phase”: Roscosmos, together with colleagues from China, intends to work on a program for manned visits to the moon and the construction of a lunar base. The head of the state corporation expressed hope that other countries would join the program.

On August 11, at 02:10 Moscow time, the Soyuz-2.1b carrier rocket with the Luna-25 automatic station was launched from the Vostochny cosmodrome. Nine minutes later, the Fregat upper stage with the station entered low-Earth orbit, separating from the third stage of the rocket. Then the “Moon” separated from the block and entered the flight path to the Earth’s satellite. At Roskosmos reportedthat took over the station after separation.

Luna-25 will be the first lunar mission in the history of modern Russia. The previous Soviet apparatus, Luna-24, was launched in 1976. Borisov specified that Luna-25 would land near the Moon’s South Pole on August 21st. The station is designed for a year.

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). The purpose of the mission is to develop a soft landing technology, analyze the soil and conduct scientific research, including the study of the upper layer of surface regolith in the region of the South Pole of the Moon, as well as the lunar exosphere.