The Fregat upper stage, meant to launch the Russian Luna-25 spacecraft, was dispatched from NPO Lavochkin (part of Roscosmos) on November 9, 2021 to be delivered to the Vostochny Cosmodrome by air.
The Luna-25 spacecraft produced by NPO Lavochkin is created using Russian components and the latest achievements in the field of space instrumentation. The main task of the mission is to develop basic technologies of soft landing in the near-polar region and to carry out contact studies of the South Pole of the Moon. Luna-25 is scheduled to launch in 2022 from the Vostochny Cosmodrome using a Soyuz-2.1b launch vehicle and a Fregat upper stage.
Two containers with Fregat upper stages for Soyuz-2 rocket launches with OneWeb satellite system spacecraft were also dispatched from the enterprise. The upper stages will be delivered by rail to the Baikonur Cosmodrome.
Fregat upper stage is manufactured by NPO Lavochkin and is used in the medium class launch vehicles ensuring efficient injection of one or more spacecraft into operational orbits or departing trajectories. The entire injection process is performed autonomously without any interference from Earth. Since 2000, the Fregat upper stage has completed 101 launch campaigns and injected over 700 Russian and foreign-made spacecraft into various near-Earth orbits and flight paths.
