The launch of Luna-25 was postponed for the fourth time
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Roskosmos explains this with additional tests
The launch of the Luna-25 spacecraft, which was planned for July, has been postponed again. Now for August. According to the official Roscosmos, this was done “in order to achieve the required reliability of the mission.”
Recall that initially sending our apparatus to the Moon (it should be a continuation of the Soviet lunar program, which was interrupted in 1976 after the launch of Luna-24) was planned for the end of 2019. Then Roscosmos postponed launches: first to July-October 2021, then to August 2022, to July 2023 … Now, for the fourth time, to August 2023.
Last year, the transfer was associated with the need to complete fire tests of the propulsion system, with which problems had previously arisen. They also talked about “certain technical difficulties regarding the device of an external manufacturer.” As it turned out, it was about the Doppler speed and range meter (DISD-LR) developed at the Vega Concern JSC. So that he confidently and gently landed the device on the moon, they decided to finalize it. This revision took almost a year.
Today, several industry experts at once, when asked by MK about the new reasons for the transfer, say about the same thing: additional tests are required in order for us to safely land Luna-25 on an earth satellite. This, most likely, is again about the tests of the DISD-LR – after all, this is a key part of the apparatus, on which the success of both Luna-25 and all subsequent Lunas depends.
The launch “astronomical window” of 2023 will be open from July to August. According to Roskosmos, the spacecraft is currently undergoing the final cycle of ground tests at the test bench for the onboard control system. Specialists are completing statistical modeling of a soft landing on the lunar surface. For the first time in the history of astronautics, it will be produced in the vicinity of the south pole of the moon.
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