The head of Roscosmos, Yuri Borisov, spoke in a Rossiya 24 broadcast about the Luna-26 and Luna-27 missions, saying that pressing ahead with these interplanetary automatic stations will yield more tangible results for Russia than the Luna-25 project did. He framed the move as a strategic decision to accelerate development and secure momentum after the Luna-25 setback.
In his explanation, Borisov noted that speeding up the Luna-26 and Luna-27 programs would help Russia attain the objectives that were not met during the Luna-25 episode, which faced technical hurdles. The space chief emphasized that this shift in schedule is intended to translate past challenges into measurable progress for Russia’s lunar program.
Borisov recalled that the Luna-25 mission ended abruptly because the engine did not shut down correctly, running for 127 seconds instead of the planned 84 seconds. He described this as a fault in the engine shutdown sequence that contributed to the mishap and highlighted it as a learning point for the next missions.
News from the previous day confirmed that Luna-25 experienced an emergency on approach and subsequently collided with the Moon’s surface, ending the mission prematurely. The incident underscored the risks inherent in pioneering lunar exploration and the need for robust contingency plans in future flights.
Luna-25 marked a milestone as Russia’s first domestically launched lunar lander in nearly five decades, following the Luna-24 mission that reached the Moon in 1976. This renewed effort aimed to extend the country’s long-standing legacy in lunar research and to collect data that could inform subsequent landers and orbital assets.
Initial reports indicated that Luna-25 captured early imagery and data, including footage from its STS-L television system. The cameras reportedly recorded details of the Moon’s far side, including notable features such as the Zeeman crater situated near the south polar region, offering scientists a new perspective on lunar geography during the mission timeline.
As with many frontier programs, there has been some colorful historical lore linked to Russian space engines, with anecdotes suggesting early attempts involved experimental concepts and unconventional ideas. These stories are often treated as part of a broader historical tapestry describing the evolution of Soviet and Russian propulsion research, acknowledged as part of the sector’s rich, sometimes controversial, investigative heritage.