Russia's Roscosmos Makes Orders for Space Stations Luna 26, Luna 27

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russia's space agency Roscosmos has placed an order with NPO Lavochkin, a Moscow-based aerospace company, for the design of two lunar stations – an orbital station Luna 26 and landing station Luna 27, according to the government procurement website.

Both contracts requisitions "the creation of space complexes for contact and remote exploration of the lunar surface in the circumpolar area."

According to the first contract, "a space complex with an orbital space vessel for remote research" should be created in 2022-2024. The second order includes "a space complex for contact exploration of the Moon surface in the circumpolar area."

The cost of creating the orbital station is estimated at more than 9.3 billion rubles ($150 million), the landing one at almost 7.2 billion rubles, according to the documents.

The Luna 26 mission for mapping is planned for 2024, while the Luna 27 mission for soil exploration for 2025. The Luna 28 mission including lunar soil sampling and testing the landing procedure of Russian cosmonauts is scheduled for 2027-2028.

Russia has been actively preparing its Luna 25 mission, the first lunar mission in almost 50 years, including testing the basic technologies of soft landing and contact research at the South Pole. After multiple delays the mission was re-scheduled for 2023.