Overview

Originally it was envisioned to be launched to the

Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width of ...

together with the lunar lander Luna 27 which will land on the South Pole–Aitken basin, an unexplored area on the

far side of the Moon The far side of the Moon is the lunar hemisphere that always faces away from Earth, opposite to the near side, because of synchronous rotation in the Moon's orbit. Compared to the near side, the far side's terrain is rugged, with a multitu ...

, but because of mass limitations, they will be launched separately. The orbiter's mass is about 2100 kg. The objective of the orbiter is to locate and quantify natural lunar resources that can be exploited by future landed missions. After completion of its primary mission, the spacecraft's orbit will be raised to about 500 km altitude to study

cosmic rays Cosmic rays are high-energy particles or clusters of particles (primarily represented by protons or atomic nuclei) that move through space at nearly the speed of light. They originate from the Sun, from outside of the Solar System in our ...

International collaboration

The

European Space Agency , owners = , headquarters = Paris, Île-de-France, France , coordinates = , spaceport = Guiana Space Centre , seal = File:ESA emblem seal.png , seal_size = 130px , image = Views in the Main Control Room (120 ...

(ESA) had intended to contribute to this and other Luna-Glob missions in the manner of communications, precision landing, hazard avoidance, drilling, sampling, sample analysis and ground support. ESA cooperation with Russia on Luna 26 was discontinued on 13 April 2022 as a consequence of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. As of October 2017, the U.S. space agency

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeedin ...

was negotiating and assessing a potential collaboration with the Luna-Glob missions Luna 25 through Luna 28. In September 2019, the

China National Space Administration China National Space Administration (CNSA; ) is the government agency of the People's Republic of China that is responsible for civil space administration and international space cooperation, including organizing or leading foreign exchanges ...

(CNSA) and Roscosmos signed two agreements on scientific cooperation and coordination between Luna 26 and the upcoming Chang'e 7 lunar polar orbiter.

Scientific payload

The scientific payload on board the orbiter is composed of fourteen instruments that will be fabricated by

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...

and by some European partners. The payload will study the lunar surface and the environment around the Moon, including the

solar wind The solar wind is a stream of charged particles released from the upper atmosphere of the Sun, called the corona. This plasma mostly consists of electrons, protons and alpha particles with kinetic energy between . The composition of the sol ...

, and high-energy

. The orbiter may carry some NASA instruments, or instruments from private U.S. companies. Luna 26 will also scout sites for the planned Luna 27 landing mission.The "Simplest Satellite" That Opened up the Universe
Zelenyi, Lev; Zakutnyaya, Olga; American Scientist; ''Research Triangle Park'', Vol. 105, Issue 5, (September/October 2017): 282-289

References

{{Future spaceflights Missions to the Moon Russian space probes Russian lunar exploration program 2024 in Russia 2024 in spaceflight Proposed space probes

Overview

International collaboration

Scientific payload

See also

References