Russia's first lunar mission since 1976. Targeted the lunar south pole.
Luna 25 was Russia's first lunar mission in 47 years, and the successor to the Soviet Union's Luna 24 which returned samples from the Moon in August 1976. Launched on August 10, 2023, the mission aimed to land near the lunar south pole — an ambitious target for a country resuming lunar operations after nearly five decades.
The spacecraft successfully entered lunar orbit on August 16, 2023, and began preparations for landing. However, on August 19, during an orbit-lowering maneuver to prepare for descent, the propulsion system fired for 127 seconds instead of the planned 84 seconds due to a malfunctioning accelerometer unit. This excessive burn put Luna 25 on a collision course with the Moon.
The crash occurred just four days before India's Chandrayaan-3 successfully landed at the south pole on August 23, creating a stark contrast between the two nations' lunar programs. The failure highlighted the challenges Russia faces in rebuilding its space capabilities after decades of underinvestment and the loss of Soviet-era institutional knowledge.
Demonstrate Russia's ability to soft-land on the Moon for the first time since the Soviet Luna 24 mission in 1976, restoring national lunar exploration capability.
Target a landing near the lunar south pole, joining the international focus on this scientifically valuable region believed to contain water ice.
Analyze the chemical and physical properties of lunar south pole regolith using onboard instruments including a laser mass spectrometer and gamma-ray spectrometer.
Search for water ice and other volatiles in the south polar soil, assessing the potential for future resource utilization.
Luna 25 crashed into the Moon on August 19, 2023, during a routine orbit-lowering maneuver. Post-failure investigation by Roscosmos revealed that the onboard accelerometer unit in the BIUS-L system malfunctioned, failing to send a shutdown command to the propulsion system at the correct time. The engine burned for 127 seconds instead of the planned 84 seconds, adding approximately 50% more velocity change than intended and putting the spacecraft on an impact trajectory.
Luna 25 struck the lunar surface, ending Russia's first lunar mission in 47 years. The failure came just days before India's Chandrayaan-3 successfully landed at the south pole on August 23, underscoring the difficulty of lunar landing even for nations with long spaceflight heritage.
Luna 25, Russia's first lunar mission since 1976, crashed into the Moon after its propulsion system operated for 127 seconds instead of the planned 84 seconds during an orbit adjustment maneuver, caused by an accelerometer malfunction.
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