Moscow:

President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday the first segment of Russia’s new orbital station, which Moscow sees as the next logical development in space exploration after the International Space Station (ISS), should be put into operation by 2027. In a meeting with space industry officials, Putin also vowed to proceed with Russia’s lunar programme despite the failure in August of its first moonshot in 47 years, Russian news agencies reported.

Putin said Moscow’s decision to extend to 2028 its participation in the ISS, now 25 years old, was a temporary measure.

“As the resources of the International Space Station run out, we need not just one segment, but the entire station to be brought into service,” Putin was quoted as saying of the new Russian orbital station.

“And in 2027, The first segment should be placed in orbit.”

He said the development of the station had to proceed “all in good time” or the Russian programme risked falling behind in terms of the development of manned space flight.

The new station, he said, had to “consider all advanced achievements of science and technology and have the potential to take on the tasks of the future”.

Yuri Borisov, head of the Russian space agency, Roscosmos, endorsed Putin’s position as a means of maintaining the country’s capabilities in manned space flight.

“The ISS is getting old and will come to an end sometime around 2030,” Russian agencies quoted him as telling reporters.

“If we don’t start large-scale work on creating a Russian orbital station in 2024 it is quite likely that we will lose our capability because of the time gap. What I mean is the ISS will no longer be there and the Russian station won’t be ready.”

In his remarks, Putin also said he had been informed fully about the technical mishaps that led to the crash landing of the Luna-25 craft in August on the moon’s south pole.

“We will of course be working on this. The lunar programme will continue. There are no plans to close it,” Putin said.

“Mistakes are mistakes. It is a shame for all of us. This is space exploration and everyone understands that. It is an experience that we can use in the future.”

Borisov said the next moon launch might be moved forward to 2026 from 2027 as planned.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

File photo of a picture taken from the camera of the lunar landing spacecraft Luna-25 during its flight to the moon shows the mission emblem and the bucket of the lunar manipulator complex.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

The head of Russia’s space agency said on August 21 that the Luna-25 spacecraft crashed into the moon after its engines failed to shut down correctly, and he blamed the country’s decades-long pause in lunar exploration for the mishap.

The pilotless Luna-25 had been scheduled to land on August 21 while aiming to become the first spacecraft to touch down on the south pole of the moon, an area where scientists believe important reserves of frozen water and precious elements may exist.

Roscosmos Director General Yury Borisov said the spacecraft’s engines were turned on over the weekend to put Luna-25 into a “pre-landing orbit” but did not shut down properly, plunging the lander onto the moon.

“Instead of the planned 84 seconds, it worked for 127 seconds. This was the main reason for the emergency,” Borisov told Russian state news channel Russia 24.

Roscosmos had contact with the spacecraft until 2:57 p.m. local time Saturday, when communication was lost and “the device passed into an open lunar orbit and crashed into the surface of the moon,” he said.

The lunar mission was Russia’s first since 1976, when it was part of the Soviet Union. Only three countries have managed successful moon landings: the Soviet Union, the United States and China.

“The negative experience of interrupting the lunar program for almost 50 years is the main reason for the failures,” Borisov said, adding “it would be the worst decision ever” for Russia to end the program now.

The Luna-25 was in a race with an Indian spacecraft launched on July 14 to be the first to reach the south pole. Both were expected to reach the moon between August 21 and August 23.

A previous Indian attempt to land at the moon’s south pole in 2019 ended when the spacecraft crashed into the moon’s surface.

Luna-25 launched from the Vostochny Cosmodrome in Russia’s Far East on August 10. The spaceport is a pet project of Russian President Vladimir Putin and key to his efforts to make Russia a space superpower.

Before the launch, Roscosmos said it wanted to show Russia “is a state capable of delivering a payload to the moon,” and “ensure Russia’s guaranteed access to the moon’s surface.” Following the crash, the Russian space agency said the moon mission was about ensuring long-term “defense capability” as well as “technological sovereignty.” “The race to develop the moon’s natural resources has begun,” Borisov said Monday. “In the future, the moon will become an ideal platform for the exploration of deep space.” Sanctions imposed on Russia since it launched a war in Ukraine nearly 18 months ago have affected its space programme, making it more difficult to access Western technology.

The Luna-25 was initially meant to carry a small moon rover, but the idea was abandoned to reduce the weight of the craft for improved reliability, analysts said.

The lunar south pole is of particular interest to scientists, who believe the permanently shadowed polar craters may contain frozen water in the rocks that future explorers could transform into air and rocket fuel..

A picture taken from the camera of the lunar landing spacecraft Luna-25 during its flight to the moon shows the mission emblem and the bucket of the lunar manipulator complex on August 15, 2023. Photo: Roscosmos via Reuters

Russia’s Luna-25 spacecraft crashed into the Moon after it spun into an uncontrolled orbit, the country’s Roscosmos space agency said on August 20.

The pilotless spacecraft was aiming to be the first ever to land on the south pole of the Moon, an area where scientists believe there could be important reserves of frozen water and precious elements. It had been expected to land on August 21.

However, Roscosmos said it lost contact with the Luna-25 on August 19 after the spacecraft ran into difficulties and reported an “abnormal situation”.

“The apparatus moved into an unpredictable orbit and ceased to exist as a result of a collision with the surface of the moon,” read a statement from the agency.

Alongside Luna 25, India’s Chandrayaan-3,launched on July 14, is hoping to land in the south pole area as well. Its powered descent is expected to begin at 5.45 pm IST on August 23

The lunar mission was Russia’s first since 1976, when it was part of the Soviet Union. Only three governments have managed successful moon landings: the Soviet Union, the United States and China.

The lunar south pole is of particular interest to scientists, who believe the permanently shadowed polar craters may contain frozen water in the rocks that future explorers could transform into air and rocket fuel.

A previous Indian attempt to land at the south pole in 2019 ended when the spacecraft crashed into the moon’s surface.

Roscosmos said it wanted to show Russia “is a state capable of delivering a payload to the moon,” and “ensure Russia’s guaranteed access to the moon’s surface”.

Sanctions imposed on Russia since it began its actions in Ukraine have affected its space programme, making it more difficult to access Western technology.

The Luna-25 was initially meant to carry a small moon rover but that idea was abandoned to reduce the weight of the craft for improved reliability, analysts said.

The craft launched from the Vostochny Cosmodrome in Russia’s Far East on August 10. The spaceport is a pet project of Russian President Vladimir Putin and key to his efforts to make Russia a space superpower.