When Russia asked for the moon

It should have been a historic moment: Luna-25, Russia’s first lunar probe in 47 years, engineered and launched in Russia, was supposed to signal the country’s return to the space race. But the moon had other plans. According to the Russian space agency Roscosmos, on 12 August the spacecraft crashed to the surface of Earth’s natural satellite due to a technical fault. The probe was intended to explore the lunar south pole, a perilous region where scientists have located deposits of water ice.

The probe had a decidedly less than auspicious start, with the Russian space programme facing major corruption and funding problems, compounded by international sanctions targeting the country since its invasion of Ukraine. On 14 April 2022 the European Space Agency (ESA) announced that it was suspending all collaboration with Russia on its Luna series of lunar robotic missions. While this decision may not have directly caused the Luna-25 crash, it is a reminder that the consequences of conflicts stretch well beyond the front line.

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