The start of manned missions of Russian cosmonauts to the Moon is being postponed due to a lack of funding for the development of a super-heavy launch vehicle. Roscosmos State Corporation confirmed that limited budgetary resources forced the postponement of the program's start date.
The start dates for manned flights to the Moon are shifting to the right due to budget constraints on the creation of a super-heavy-class launch vehicle.
According to previous statements, the launch of the lunar mission is scheduled for the period from 2031 to 2040. This information was announced in November 2023 by Vladimir Solovyov, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences and General Designer of RSC Energia. In April of the same year, the former head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation, Denis Manturov, noted that flight tests of the super-heavy rocket, which is part of the space rocket complex (SRC) of the super-heavy class, are tentatively scheduled for 2033, and the total cost of the project is estimated at 600 billion rubles.
According to Dmitry Baranov, head of RCC Progress, the center's specialists have the necessary competencies to implement the project. However, the start of work is still hampered by the lack of an approved technical assignment from the state customer.
The super-heavy launch vehicle is designed to put up to 90 tons of payload into low Earth orbit and at least 20 tons into a near-lunar polar orbit. The implementation of the project will be an important step for the development of Russian space programs, including the exploration of the Moon and deep space research.
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