1/ Not to be outdone by the US Artemis II mission, Russia is reported to be rushing out its own plan to carve out territories on the moon. However, as a Russian political commentator observes, Russia's space capabilities have degenerated to the point that this is mere fantasy. ⬇️
2/ Russia (and the Soviet Union before it, which envisaged the moon base shown above back in 1962) has long dreamed of establishing a presence on the moon. However, lack of funds and technological shortfalls have long prevented this.
3/ At a closed meeting of the Presidium of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Academician Sergei Chernyshev bluntly stated that the federal "Space Science" project is intended to "establish sovereign Russian territories on the lunar surface."
4/ Chernyshev, who is the scientific director of the N.E. Zhukovsky Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute, told the audience: "The lunar programme will help Russia maintain its place among the leading space powers actively exploring the Moon."
5/ "It will provide new knowledge and technologies for lunar exploration. And ultimately, it will help establish sovereign Russian territories on the lunar surface."
6/ He says that the programme will be carried out in two main stages: first, mastering the technologies necessary for landing and research on the lunar surface, to be followed by creating "elements of lunar bases" and using "liftoff technology" from landing sites.
7/ Chernyshev says that this will cost 4.4 trillion rubles ($56.1 billion) by 2036. However, Academician Anatoly Petrukovich has pointed out that the US is spending far more: "NASA's requested funding budget for the Moon next year is $8.5 billion."
8/ "This is practically our entire federal project for 11 years, even slightly more."
The Outer Space Treaty, signed in 1967 by the USSR, USA and UK, also prohibits Chernyshev's ambition of "national appropriation by claim of sovereignty" of the moon or other bodies.
9/ Chernyshev's optimistic scenario was also rather dented by his admission that the existing Russian lunar program has been delayed again. The launches of the Luna-28, Luna-29, and Luna-30 spacecraft are now planned for 2032–2036.
10/ As the St Petersburg newspaper Fontanka notes, "the program's timeline has already been pushed back. In August 2025, Lev Zeleny, scientific director of the Space Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences,…
11/ …announced that the launch of the Luna-27A station had been postponed from 2028 to 2029, and the Luna-27B mission was scheduled for 2030."
12/ "Even earlier, in 2023, then-Roscosmos head Yuri Borisov said that the Luna-26 spacecraft was expected to launch in 2027, Luna-27 in 2028, and Luna-28 was expected to launch in 2030 or later."
13/ 'Political Report' is scathing about the unreality of the Russian Academy of Sciences' plans:
14/ "Russia has neither competitive technologies capable of competing with American ones, nor any spare cash. The budget is already bursting at the seams from misallocations, sanctions pressure, and domestic economic problems."
15/ "Roscosmos, once a symbol of national greatness, today embodies systemic failure: key competencies have been lost, positions have been abandoned, and instead of real mass launches and orbital stations, there are only grandiose declarations.
16/ "All of this seems like a classic illustration of the old adage "it doesn't hurt to dream." Politically, such statements act as an internal boost: they maintain the image of a superpower for domestic audiences.
17/ "But on the global stage, they only highlight the depth of the gap. While Washington is investing real resources in viable projects and already envisions the Moon as a future base, Russian representatives are drawing borders on a map that doesn't yet exist.
18/ "Without money, technology and time, these plans risk remaining a beautiful but empty fantasy—yet another example of how the desire to appear strong replaces real strength. The space race continues, and Russia is falling further and further behind with each passing day." /end
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