Moscow, Nov 21 (UNI/Sputnik) The launch of Russia’s automatic interplanetary station Luna-25 is being delayed until the summer of next year, according to Roscosmos state space corporation chief Dmitry Rogozin.
"In July, we’ll have the launch of Luna-25. For the first time in 46 years we are resuming the lunar program and we are flying to where the Soviet Union never flew - the south pole of the Moon," Rogozin said on the Soloviev Live YouTube show on Saturday.
In June, Rogozin said that the Luna-25 spacecraft would be ready by the end of the year and that depending on technical readiness, the lander mission to the Moon would either be launched in 2021 or at the beginning of 2022.
In late August, Roscosmos rescheduled the launch of Luna 25 from the Vostochny spaceport from October of this year to May 2022 due to the need for additional checks of onboard equipment. Last month, Rogozin said that the launch was being postponed again.
Luna 25 is an automatic interplanetary station due to be the first spacecraft in the history of modern Russia to reach the Moon. Its predecessor, Luna 24, was launched by the Soviet Union in 1976. The space probe will also become the first lander mission on the lunar south pole.
UNI/SPUTNIK GNK 0625