Launch details

Soyuz 2.1b/Fregat-M | Luna 27

ROSCOSMOS

Government RUS

Cosmodrome Site 1S

Vostochny Cosmodrome

Dec 31 at 09:00am

Launchpad time+0900

Dec 31 at 12:00am

Your local time+0000

Current status

TBD

Soyuz 2.1b Fregat-M

Launch vehicle

Luna 27

Mission

51.8844

Latitude

128.3339

Longitude

Get notification

24 hours before launch

Get notification

1 hour before launch

Note: For all launches the scheduled launch dates and times are subject to change due to weather, equipment, crew and other factors.

Mission description

Luna 27 (also named Luna-Resurs 1) is a planned lunar lander mission by Roscosmos to send a lander to the South Pole–Aitken basin, an area on the far side of the Moon. The purpose is to prospect for minerals, volatiles (nitrogen, water, carbon dioxide, ammonia, hydrogen, methane and sulfur dioxide, and lunar water ice in permanently shadowed areas of the Moon and investigate the potential use of these natural lunar resources. On the long term, Russia considers building a crewed base on the Moon's far side that would bring scientific and commercial benefits. The lander will feature 15 science instruments that will analyse the regolith, plasma in the exosphere, dust, and seismic activity. The payload will include a sampling drill.

Luna 27

Livestream

Attending a launch in person

Paid guided tours are how foreigners access Russian cosmodromes, for example Russia Discovery or Star City Tours, at a cost of around 3000 USD. The most valuable service they'll provide is organizing your permits with the Russian or Kazakh authorities.

If you only plan on seeing one, Vostochny is the most modern and likely the heart of Russian spaceflight moving forward, while Baikonur is steeped in history as the launch place of the first human in space (Yuri Gagarin) and the first woman in space (Valentina Tereshkova).

How to get there

The closest commercial airport is Ignatyevo Airport in Blagoveshchensk. Tsiolkovsky Airport is much closer to the Cosmodrome but flights are restricted.

From Blagoveshchensk a 4-hour train or bus ride will get you to Tsiolkovsky, a town that serves the spaceport.

Accomodation

Nearby hotels in Tsiolkovsky.

Agency details

Russian Federal Space Agency (ROSCOSMOS) oversees Russia's space activities, including human spaceflight, satellite launches, and interplanetary missions. Notable for its Soyuz spacecraft and Progress resupply missions to the ISS, ROSCOSMOS plays a crucial role in international space collaboration.