Visiting the new site of Vostochnyi On Monday, Vladimir Putin highlighted the Russian space program, with particular emphasis on its lunar ambitions. But the projects already defined are struggling to materialize… And key partners leaveas ESA confirmed yesterday on these same lunar missions.
The crisis promises to be lasting between the Russian space sector and the Western world.
When the scientist shows the moon…
For the National Cosmonauts Day and the celebration of the anniversary of the first human in orbit on April 12, Russian leader V. Putin and his Belarusian counterpart A. Lukashenko visited with the head of Roscosmos (D. Rogozin) on the Vostochnyi site. Were they influenced by our article published the day before? Probably not, since this visit was primarily intended to highlight the workers of the Russian space sector, but also to see the progress of the launch site dedicated to the large Angara launcher.
In his speech, V. Putin remained very vague, referring to research on nuclear-powered space vehicles, future manned vessels or increased cooperation with Belarus. But one sentence caused a lot of ink to flow, since he also announced ” relaunch the lunar program “.
Luna Park
No mysterious hidden program or Soviet vehicle brought up to date, V. Putin certainly mentioned the three lunar missions in preparation for a long time in the Russian offices, namely Luna 25, 26 and 27. Heirs to the prestigious Luna program ( paused since 1976), the latter are supposed to gradually demonstrate the capabilities of modern Russian missions, with landings at the lunar South Pole, ambitious experiments and programs to gain skills in the medium and long term. Missions that have however been postponed many times over the past years… Even if Luna-25 is still officially scheduled for takeoff in August 2022 (and landing on our natural satellite shortly after).
An “announcement” which is therefore rather part of a rare continuity: these projects being managed from Russia, can continue… Because all the others in collaboration are at a standstill. And the agenda was not pleasant: the day after the speech, it was the European agency which decided to definitively stop its work with the Russian part on Luna 25, 26 and 27, with the transfer of all the experiences and developments on other vehicles.
The ESA is leaving, will Russia want to do everything on its own?
Since the invasion of Ukraine, this work has been on hold, but its sale and transfer is another strong gesture from the European space authorities. This includes, for example, the “Pilot” box capable of autonomously piloting the lunar landing by processing images of the surface in real time (a first demonstration was to fly on Luna-25) or a very large drill (the PROSPECT project) which was to fly with Luna 27. Europeans will favor international lunar landers, especially those paid for under US public-private CLPS projects.
Russia is increasingly lonely. Even today, the director of the Russian Academy of Sciences also affirmed that his Chinese counterparts had “paused” their collaboration… In this isolated setting, the nation could still mark the spirits if it arrived in 2022 to succeed in its first lunar mission in 46 years, by landing a vehicle on the surface of the Moon at a time when the American program is very late. A technological and political accomplishment, in the current context.
Source : Arstechnica
16