The announcement was made Tuesday by Oleg Ostapenko, chief of
Roscosmos, the Russian Space Agency. During a joint meeting between Ostapenko and Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, Ostapenko
said:
“At the end of the next decade, we plan to complete tests of a super-heavy-class carries rocket and begin full-scale exploration of the Moon. By that time, based on the results of lunar surface exploration by unmanned space probes, we will designate most promising places for lunar expeditions and lunar bases."
The
exploration mission will begin with unmanned space probes studying the lunar surface. Manned expeditions are tentatively planned to begin during the late 2020s and early 2030s.
Most of the preparation work will be part of Russia's new 2016-2025 federal space program according to the Russian news outlet,
ITAR-TASS. However Roscosmos intends to continue looking at space exploration plans that will be conducted through 2050 and beyond.
Work on a new manned spacecraft is already underway, which is the first phase of the planned manned expedition system. New launch vehicles, including heavy and super-heavy carriers, are also in the works according to
Ria Novosti. The newly designed spacecraft will be used to deliver supplies to cosmonauts to the Moon.
When reporters asked when the first moon settlement would be completed, Alexander Ivanov, First Deputy of Roscosmos,
said that was a "complex" question that required "additional attention."
In other space
news, India's mission to Mars successfully entered the planet's orbit on Wednesday, and now the country joins the U.S., Russia and Europe in sending probes to orbit or land on Mars.
The First Man on the Moon | FindTheBest
