Unmanned Russian spacecraft Luna-25 crashes into the Moon

It was Russia’s first moon mission in 50 years

A Soyuz 2.1b rocket with the Luna-25 lander blasts off from the launch pad at the Vostochny cosmodrome, some 180 km north of Blagoveschensk, in the Amur region. Picture: Getty

The Russian space agency said its Luna-25 spacecraft has crashed into the moon, it emerged today.

The BBC reported the unmanned craft was due to make a soft landing on the Moon's south pole, but failed after spinning into an uncontrolled orbit.

Luna-25 is Russia’s first moon mission in nearly 50 years and was racing to land on Earth’s satellite ahead of an Indian spacecraft.

Only three governments have managed successful moon landings: the Soviet Union, the United States and China. India and Russia were aiming to be the first to land at the moon’s south pole.

Sanctions imposed on Russia after it invaded Ukraine make it harder for it to access Western technology, impacting upon its space programme.

The Luna-25 was initially meant to carry a small moon rover but that idea was abandoned to reduce the weight of the craft for improved reliability, analysts say.