Russia’s space agency, Roscosmos, announced that it had successfully launched a rocket carrying a lunar landing device from the Vostochny Cosmodrome on August 11.

The mission aims to make Russia the first nation to land on the lunar south pole, where ice deposits have been observed. The launch of the Luna-25 lander is Russia’s first lunar mission since 1976, when the Luna-24 probe was sent to the moon.

The vessel was expected to reach the moon’s orbit in five days, RIA said. In April 2022, the European Space Agency canceled plans to cooperate with Russia on the Luna-25 mission due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Credit: Roscosmos via Storyful