Luna 25
Luna 25 (or Luna-25; Russian: Луна-25) was a failed Russian lunar lander mission by Roscosmos in August 2023 that planned to land near the lunar south pole, in the vicinity of the crater Boguslawsky.
Luna 25 lunar lander mock-up | |
| Names | Luna-Glob lander |
|---|---|
| Mission type | Technology, reconnaissance |
| Operator | SRI RAS (IKI RAN) |
| COSPAR ID | 2023-118A |
| SATCAT no. | 57600 |
| Website | iki |
| Mission duration |
|
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Spacecraft type | Robotic lander |
| Manufacturer | NPO Lavochkin |
| Launch mass | 1,750 kg (3,860 lb) |
| Payload mass | 30 kg (66 lb) |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | 23:10:57.189, 10 August 2023 (UTC) |
| Rocket | Soyuz-2.1b / Fregat |
| Launch site | Vostochny Cosmodrome |
| Contractor | |
| Lunar lander | |
| Landing date | 11:57, 19 August 2023 (UTC) (crashed) |
| Landing site | near-Lunar south pole (intended) 57.865°S 61.360°E (crash site) (Pontécoulant G crater) |
Luna 25 mission patch | |
Initially called the Luna-Glob lander (Russian: Луна-Глоб), it was renamed Luna 25 to emphasize continuity with the Soviet Luna programme from the 1970s, though it was still part of what was at one point conceptualized as the Luna-Glob lunar exploration programme. It was the first lunar lander that the Russian space agency Roscosmos has sent to the Moon (notwithstanding the ones sent by the Soviet space program) and would have been the first lander to land on the lunar south pole.
The Luna 25 mission lifted off on 10 August 2023, 23:10 UTC, atop a Soyuz-2.1b rocket from the Vostochny Cosmodrome in Russia's far eastern Amur Region, and on 16 August entered lunar orbit. On 19 August at 11:57 UTC, the lander crashed on the Moon's surface after a failed orbital manoeuvre.