The Luna-25 spacecraft has successfully launched from the Vostochny Cosmodrome in the Amur region of the Russian Far East. The automatic landing module of Luna-25, having separated from the Fregat upper stage being carried by a Soyuz 2.1b rocket, is flying towards the Moon, the Russian state space corporation Roscosmos said in a statement.
The journey to the Earth's satellite is projected to take from 10 to 12 days. It comprises three stages: a launch, a flight on the trajectory to the Moon and around the Moon in a circular circumpolar orbit for three days, and a soft landing at the Moon's South Pole.
According to Roscosmos, the station was created solely on the basis of the latest Russian achievements in the field of space technology.
The planned landing of Luna-25 in the polar region with difficult terrain, previously inaccessible to humans, is expected to provide an opportunity to expand our knowledge of the Moon. The priority tasks of the mission are the search for water along with surface exploration.
Take a look at Sputnik's photo gallery covering the launch of the first lunar mission in modern Russian history.