MOSCOW: Russia on Friday successfully launched a Soyuz rocket carrying a lunar landing craft, its first mission to the moon in nearly 50 years.
The rocket carrying the Luna-25 spacecraft was launched from the Vostochny Cosmodrome, AFP reported.
The spacecraft is expected to reach moon orbit in five days, where it will spend three to seven days to determine the right spot to land on the moon.
A Russian space craft to land on moon on Aug 21
According to the Russian space agency Roscosmos, the mission is expected to land on the Moon around August 21.
The spacecraft will remain on the Moon for a year and will take samples of the moon soil, and carry out long-term scientific research.
This is the first lunar mission in post-Soviet Russia. The last mission took place in 1976, when the USSR was a pioneer in space technology.
The mission is important for the Russian space sector to show its capabilities in sending space missions.
