Dmitry Rogozin, General Director of the Roscosmos State Corporation, on February 26, 2021, visited one of the leading enterprises of the rocket and space industry – the S.A. Lavochkin (part of the Roscosmos State Corporation), where he got acquainted with the current status of work on key projects in the field of planetary research – Luna-25 and ExoMars-2022.
As part of the working visit, the head of the State Corporation got acquainted with the progress of complex electrical tests of the flight product of the Luna-25 spacecraft, which are being carried out in the finishing chamber of the control and measuring station. In addition, the General Director of Roscosmos was presented with a test bench for ground testing of the onboard control complex of the Luna-25 spacecraft, equipped with modern technological prototypes of onboard equipment and intended for testing the logic and algorithms for controlling the spacecraft at all stages of its active existence.
After visiting the production and testing base, a working meeting was held, where Dmitry Rogozin, General Director of the Roscosmos State Corporation, listened to a report on the development of the ExoMars-2022 spacecraft within the framework of the Russian-European ExoMars project. December 2020 – January 2021 in France (Cannes), the landing module and its components were tested for electromagnetic compatibility and other tests in accordance with the work schedule.
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The Luna-25 space project is being created using the latest achievements in the field of space instrumentation and taking into account the experience of previous lunar expeditions of NPO Lavochkin. The main task of the mission is to develop basic technologies for soft landing in the circumpolar region and conduct contact studies of the South Pole of the Moon. The launch of Luna 25 is scheduled for October 2021.
The ExoMars-2022 mission is the second stage of the largest joint project of the Roscosmos State Corporation and the European Space Agency to explore the surface and subsurface layer of Mars in close proximity to the landing site, conduct geological research and search for traces of the possible existence of life on the planet. It will open a new stage in space exploration for the world scientific community. NPO Lavochkina is the main contractor and coordinator of the work on the Russian side, as well as the developer and manufacturer of the landing module and landing platform. The launch of the mission is scheduled within the “astronomical window” in September-October 2022. This period was chosen taking into account the ballistic conditions that allow launching from Earth to Mars every two years.