ISRO congratulates Russian counterpart Roscosmos for launch of its Moon mission Luna-25

Bengaluru: ISRO on Friday congratulated Russian space agency Roscosmos for the successful launch of its Moon mission Luna-25, the country's first lunar lander in 47 years. The Russian mission coincides with India's third lunar spacecraft Chandrayaan-3 as both landers target to land on Moon's surface on August 23.

India and Russia are both aiming to be the first-ever country to land on the Moon's south pole.

"Congratulations, Roscosmos on the successful launch of Luna-25. Wonderful to have another meeting point in our space journies. Wishes for (India's) Chandrayaan-3 & (Russia's) Luna-25 missions to achieve their goals," ISRO said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

Congratulations, Roscosmos on the successful launch of Luna-25 💐



Wonderful to have another meeting point in our space journeys



Wishes for

🇮🇳Chandrayaan-3 &

🇷🇺Luna-25

missions to achieve their goals.

— ISRO (@isro) August 11, 2023

The Russian spacecraft launched early on Friday morning (IST) will take about 5.5 days to travel to the Moon's vicinity. Luna-25 is reportedly expected to first enter an orbit around the Earth before transferring to a lunar orbit and finally descending on the surface of the Moon.

Only three countries have managed successful landings on the Moon: the former Soviet Union, the United States and China.