Luna 25

Luna 25 (Russian: Луна-25), also known as the Luna-Glob lander, was a failed Russian lunar lander mission operated by Roscosmos. It was the first lunar mission undertaken by Russia since the Soviet-era Luna 24 in 1976, and was intended to be the first spacecraft ever to land near the lunar south pole. The spacecraft was manufactured by NPO Lavochkin and carried 30 kg (66 lb) of scientific instruments, including instruments for analyzing lunar regolith and measuring plasma in the exosphere. Luna 25 lifted off on August 10, 2023, at 23:10 UTC, atop a Soyuz-2.1b rocket with a Fregat upper stage from the Vostochny Cosmodrome in Russia's Amur Region. The spacecraft entered lunar orbit on August 16, 2023, with a scheduled landing date of August 21 near the crater Boguslawsky. On August 19, 2023, a failed orbital maneuver caused the lander to follow a trajectory that intersected with the lunar surface rather than the planned elliptical orbit. The spacecraft crashed into the inner rim of Pontécoulant G crater at 11:57 UTC, approximately 400 kilometers short of its intended landing site. The impact site was later identified by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. Originally named the Luna-Glob lander, the mission was renamed Luna 25 to emphasize continuity with the Soviet Union's historic Luna programme, though it remained part of the modern Luna-Glob lunar exploration program. At least 12.5 billion rubles (over US$130 million) had been spent on the project prior to its failure.