Luna-25 probe to be launched late September - Roscosmos CEO

The Luna-25 space probe is scheduled to be launched at the end of September, Roscosmos CEO Dmitry Rogozin said.

"I hope that all the tests will be successful. And at the end of September, we will launch Luna-25," he said.

Luna-25 is to become the first probe in Russia’s recent history to land on the Moon. Originally, the launch was tentatively scheduled for the summer of 2022. Speaking at the New Horizons education marathon of the Znanie (Knowledge) society, Rogozin said that the mission to the Moon should be sent before the end of September.

The purpose of the project is to have an automatic probe examine an area near the Moon’s South Pole. The descent module is to touch the Moon’s surface near the Boguslawsky crater.