Europe 1 with AFP 08:15, August 11, 2023, modified at 08:18, August 11, 2023

The conquest of the moon. Russia on Friday launched a Soyuz rocket carrying a probe to the moon, kicking off its first mission to the moon in nearly 50 years. It is scheduled to reach lunar orbit in five days, where it will then spend between three and seven days choosing the right location before landing in the lunar south pole area.

Russia on Friday launched a Soyuz rocket carrying a probe to the moon, kicking off its first mission to the moon in nearly 50 years. The rocket with the Luna-25 probe took off at the scheduled time at 02:10 Moscow time (23:10 GMT) from the Vostochny cosmodrome in the Far East, according to images broadcast live by the Russian space agency Roscosmos.

The craft rose in a plume of smoke and flames under a gray sky. It is scheduled to reach lunar orbit in five days, where it will then spend between three and seven days choosing the right location before landing in the lunar south pole area.

"Long-term scientific research"

According to a source within Roscosmos contacted by AFP, the agency plans a landing of the probe around August 21. The spacecraft, which will remain on the moon for a year, will have the mission to "take (samples) and analyze the ground," as well as "conduct long-term scientific research," said the Russian space agency. This launch is the first mission of the new Russian lunar program, which starts at a time when Roscosmos is deprived of its partnerships with the West, in the midst of the conflict with Ukraine.

This is Russia's first lunar mission post-Soviet land. The last one dates from 1976, at the time of the USSR, a pioneer country in the conquest of space. This mission is important for the Russian space sector, which suffers from funding problems, corruption scandals and is increasingly competing with the United States, China but also private initiatives, such as those of Space X, billionaire Elon Musk.