Russia to Send Spacecraft to Moon on Friday, First in Nearly Half a Century

After experiencing several delays, Russia announced on Monday its intention to launch a lunar lander this week, with the aim of making its first return to the Moon in almost half a century.

The launch, scheduled for early Friday, comes as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continues into a second year, causing huge tensions with the West.

With the Luna-25 lander, Russia’s first since 1976, Moscow wants to restart and build on the pioneering Soviet-era moon program.

The Russian space agency said that the Soyuz rocket had been assembled at the Vostochny Cosmodrome in the Russian Far East for the Luna-25 launch.

“We will launch on August 11,” Roscosmos said in a statement.

“Luna-25 is to practice soft landing, take and analyze soil samples and conduct long-term scientific research,” the statement said.

The four-legged lander weighing around 800 kilograms is expected to land in the area of the moon’s south pole. In contrast, most lunar landings occur near the lunar equator.

The launch is the first mission of Moscow’s new Moon program, and comes as Russia seeks to strengthen cooperation in space with China, with severed ties to the West.

After President Vladimir Putin sent troops to Ukraine last year, the European Space Agency ESA announced that it would not cooperate with Moscow on the upcoming Luna-25 launch or the upcoming 26 and 27 missions.

Despite the withdrawal, Moscow said at the time that it would continue its lunar plans and replace ESA’s equipment with Russian scientific instruments.

Speaking at the Vostochny Cosmodrome last year, Putin said the Soviet Union put the first man into space in 1961 despite “total” sanctions. He insisted that Moscow develop its lunar program despite current Western sanctions.

“We are driven by the ambition of our ancestors to move forward despite all the difficulties and all attempts to stop us in this movement from the outside,” Putin said at the time.