Dmitry Rogozin, the general director of Roscosmos, considers it is necessary to carry out launches of automatic spacecraft to the moon annually in order to work out soft landing technologies before sending a manned expedition. “Launches of automatic spacecraft to the Moon should become annual so that we can work out all the technologies associated with landing on the lunar surface and receive safety guarantees during a manned flight to the Moon. If we complete launches of automatic stations in 2025, what guarantees will we have? Will we be able to provide a regular landing of the crew in 2030? ” – said Rogozin.
In 2021, it is planned to send to the moon the first interplanetary landing vehicle Luna-25 in the history of modern Russia. The launch of the Luna-26 orbiter is scheduled for 2024, and the Luna-27 landing station in 2025. After that, it is planned to send a heavy landing station “Luna-28” to the moon to take soil and deliver it to Earth, as well as a station “Luna-29” to deliver a heavy lunar rover. The last two projects are not yet included in any program.
