--- title: "Russia Is Planning a Moon Landing Later This Year" description: "Russia is planning to launch a mission to the Moon's south pole — and it's scheduled for launch this October, as Space.com reports. " date: "2021-04-15" modified: "2021-04-15" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/russia-is-planning-a-moon-landing-later-this-year" categories: - "Astronomy" - "Moon" - "Space" tags: - "moon" - "NASA" - "Roscosmos" - "Russia" - "the digest" --- # Russia Is Planning a Moon Landing Later This Year ![Russia is planning to launch a mission to the Moon's south pole — and it's scheduled for launch this October, as Space.com reports. ]() *\Image: Roscosmos\* ## Luna 25 Russia is planning to launch a mission to the Moon's south pole — and it's scheduled for launch this October, [*Space.com* reports](). The mission, dubbed Luna 25, could be the first Russian moon landing since Luna 24, the country's third lunar sample return mission, which launched in 1976. The goal of the mission is to investigate ice deposits suspected to be buried beneath the Moon's south pole. Such deposits could make establishing a more permanent presence on the space rock more feasible in the future. Russia is also hoping to explore the potential dangers of sharp fragments of lunar dust, anther obstacle to a longterm human presence on the Moon. ## Ice Pirates According to Lev Zelenyi, scientific advisor for the Russian Space Research Institute, who spoke during a virtual presentation on March 23, Russia is planning to send five missions to the Moon roughly within the next ten years. In 2023 or 2024, Luna 26, an orbiter, will investigate any magnetic anomalies around the Moon. Future missions after that will attempt to retrieve samples of lunar ice, but without melting any possible ice compounds in the process, according to *Space.com*. The race back to the Moon is heating up. China has managed to [return the first lunar samples]() back to Earth since the Lunar 24 mission in 1976, and NASA is also hoping to return the first astronauts to the Moon since the Apollo missions as part of its Artemis program, with a first crewed launch [tentatively targeting 2024](). Will any of them pull it off? It's possible — but only time, and substantial government funding, will tell. **READ MORE:** [Russia is going back to the moon this year]() \[*Space.com*\] **More on Russia:** *[Russian Cosmonauts Are Drilling Holes in the Walls of the ISS]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()