A Soyuz-2.1b rocket booster with a Fregat upper stage and the lunar landing spacecraft Luna-25 blasts off from a launchpad at the Vostochny Cosmodrome in the far eastern Amur region, Russia, in this still image from video taken August 11, 2023. Roscosmos/Handout via REUTERS MOSCOW — Russia has launched its first moon-landing spacecraft in 47 years in a bid to be the first power to make a soft landing on the lunar south pole, a region believed to hold coveted pockets of water ice. A Soyuz 2.1v rocket carrying the Luna-25 craft blasted off from the Vostochny cosmodrome, 3,450 miles (5,550 km) east of Moscow, on Friday at 0211 Moscow time.

https://technology.inquirer.net/126905/russia-to-launch-first-moon-lander-since-1976-in-race-with-indian-spacecraft

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