“Congratulations, Roscosmos on the successful launch of Luna-25 💐Wonderful to have another meeting point in our space journeys. Wishes for Chandrayaan-3 & Luna-25 missions to achieve their goals.” ISRO posted on X (formerly Twitter).

Russia had launched the country’s first moon mission in 47 years on Friday. Luna 25 took off from the Vostochny launch facility aboard a  Soyuz-2 Fregat rocket at 8:10 am (local time) on Friday and the Fregat booster separated from the rocket’s third stage almost 564 seconds after the launch, reported ANI.

Luna-25, roughly the size of a small car, will aim to operate for a year on the moon’s south pole, where scientists at NASA and other space agencies in recent years have detected traces of water ice in the region’s shadowed craters.

According to Yuri Borisov, the head of Russia’s space agency Roscosmos, the lunar lander is anticipated to make contact with the Moon’s surface on August 21. This contrasts with Roscosmos’ earlier announcement of August 23 as the projected landing date.

Through the mission, Russia aims to achieve the distinction of becoming the first country to have a soft landing on the Moon’s south pole. 

According to the Wall Street Journal, the first-ever landing at the South Pole could help scientists understand if there could be sufficient ice quantities to provide fuel, oxygen and drinking water for supporting human settlement in the future.

Updated: 11 Aug 2023, 11:00 AM IST