On August 10, 2023, at 23:10 UTC, the Russian Luna 25 spacecraft launched to the Moon from Vostochny cosmodrome on top of a Soyuz-2.1b rocket with a Fregat-M upper stage. This is the first mission to explore the Earth satellite created by the Russian Federation: the previous spacecraft, Luna 24, was launched in 1976 by the Soviet Union. The entire future of the lunar program in Russia depends on whether this spacecraft will be able to make a soft landing near the south pole of the Moon.
