Russia’s space agency Roscosmos launched the Luna-25 from a launchpad at the Vostochny Cosmodrome in the far eastern Amur region in Russia, on August 11, 2023.
- It was launched by a Soyuz-2.1b rocket booster with a Fregat upper stage. Its lunar lander is expected to reach the moon on August 23, the same day on which Chandrayaan-3 is expected to land on the lunar surface too.
- The Luna-25 mission will seek to land near the south pole of the moon, collecting geological samples from the area, and sending back data for signs of water or its building blocks, which could raise the possibility of a future human colony on the moon.
- The Luna-25 lander, which is also known as the Luna-Glob Lander, has a robotic arm to collect surface samples from the moon and eight onboard scientific instruments, including a range of spectrometers and imaging systems, as well as communications equipment to beam data back to Earth.
