Luna-Glob

Luna-Glob (meaning "Lunar sphere") is a Russian Moon exploration program run by Roscosmos. Its goal is to establish a fully robotic lunar base, after which the program aims to shift to crewed missions, beginning with a crewed orbiter named Orel.

The program draws on plans first laid out in 1997. However, the 1998 Russian financial crisis put the first mission, the Luna 25 lander, on hold. It was revived years later. Originally scheduled for a 2012 launch on a Soyuz-2 rocket, the mission faced repeated delays—pushed to 2014, then 2015, 2016, 2018, and 2019. Roscosmos approved a model of the Luna 25 lander in 2017. The spacecraft finally launched successfully on 11 August 2023, but crashed on the Moon on 19 August after an anomalous orbit-lowering maneuver.

Luna-Glob continues the Soviet Union’s Luna program, which sent at least 24 orbiters and landers to the Moon between 1959 and 1976, fifteen of which succeeded. The last Soviet mission, Luna 24, launched on 9 August 1976.

The initial Luna-Glob mission was planned as an orbiter carrying ground-penetrating sensors. It would have used four Japanese-built penetrators (each 45 kg, with 14 kg for the penetrator itself) inherited from the Lunar-A project. Seismic experiments were also planned, with the penetrators slamming into the lunar surface to detect seismic signals, helping clarify the Moon’s origin. Two penetrators were to land near the Apollo 11 and Apollo 12 sites, using seismic data gathered there from 1969 to 1974. The orbiter’s payload of 120 kg would include astrophysics experiments, dust monitors, plasma sensors, and the LORD astronomy payload for studying ultra-high-energy cosmic rays.

Luna-Resurs (Luna 27) was originally a joint orbiter-rover mission with India’s Chandrayaan-2, featuring a 58 kg Russian rover and lander as part of the cancelled International Lunar Network. It was to land at the Moon’s south pole, examine a crater, and operate for up to a year. After the loss of Fobos-Grunt in 2011—which was to test the landing system—Russia said it could not provide the lander and rover in time. India then developed its own mission, achieving a Moon landing with Chandrayaan-3.

As of now, the following missions are planned: Luna 26 in 2028, Luna 27 in 2029–2030, Luna 29 in 2032, Luna 28 in 2034, and Luna 30 in 2036. The lunar base would initially house no more than 4 people, later rising to a maximum of 12.

In 2008, it was planned that Luna-Glob would serve as a "robotic proving ground," followed by a robotic base called Lunny Poligon (Lunar Range). That base would progress into a habitable lunar base with components including a solar power station, telecommunication station, technological station, scientific station, long-range research rover, landing and launch area, and a telecom orbiting satellite. After the robotic phase, crewed missions would begin in the 2030s with the Orel orbiter. In 2017, Russia reported plans to start building the lunar base in the 2030s.

In December 2025, Roscosmos gave NPO Lavochkin a contract to develop a lunar nuclear power plant. Roscosmos and the China National Space Administration had signed a memorandum of cooperation for its development in May 2025.