The nearest date of dispatch from the point of view of ballistic requirements is May 25, said Igor Mitrofanov, Head of the Department of Nuclear Planetology at the Space Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences
MOSCOW, November 3. /tass/. The final decision on the timing of the launch of the first mission to the Earth's natural satellite Luna-25 in the history of modern Russia will be made in March-April 2022. This was reported to TASS by the head of the Department of Nuclear Planetology of the Institute of Space Research (ICI) RAS Igor Mitrofanov.
"The final decision on the launch date will be made sometime in March-April, when there will be a full understanding of the results of all ground tests of the spacecraft," Mitrofanov said.
According to the scientist, the nearest date when an interplanetary automatic station "Luna-25" can be sent to a natural satellite of the Earth from the point of view of ballistic requirements is May 25, 2022. Good ballistic conditions will remain until July 2022. "I think most likely the launch date will be somewhere in the middle between May and July next year," he added.
Mitrofanov clarified that now all the devices created in the ICI are supplied to the S. A. Lavochkin NGO, there are no problems and comments on them.
Earlier, Roscosmos CEO Dmitry Rogozin told TASS that the launch of the Soyuz-2.1b carrier rocket with the Luna-25 interplanetary automatic station is scheduled for May-July 2022. According to him, July is preferable in terms of energy.
The automatic station will be the first domestic device in modern Russia on a natural satellite of the Earth. The goal of the Luna-25 project is to launch an automatic probe for research in the area of the Moon's south pole. It is planned that the module will be planted near the Boguslavsky crater.