Moscow’s Luna 25 lander is set to reach lunar orbit Wednesday as the first Russian mission in nearly 50 years, according to the Roscosmos space agency.
With its first lunar launch since 1976, Russia hopes to give new impetus to its long-struggling space industry, which has been increasingly isolated by the Ukrainian war.
The lander will orbit 100 kilometers above the lunar surface before landing on Monday north of Boguslawski Crater at the lunar south pole.
Cameras on the lander are already capturing distant views of the Earth and Moon from space, Roscosmos said.
The lander weighs about 800 kilograms and was carried into space by a Soyuz rocket that launched from the Vostochny Cosmodrome in Russia’s Far East on Friday.
It will stay on the moon for a year, and will be tasked with collecting samples and analyzing soil.
The mission comes at a time when the future of longstanding cooperation between Russia and the West in space exploration is in jeopardy as Russia continues its war with Ukraine.
Despite the European Space Agency (ESA) announcing that it would not cooperate with Russia on future missions to aggression against Russia, Russia said it would pursue its own lunar exploration program.