Russia

Russia Delays Lunar Missions

Is Russia still a serious space power or is Roscosmos a dying program propped up by propaganda?

Published 3 hours ago

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Above: The Soyuz MS-28 crew at Baikonur Cosmodrome in Moscow, Russia, on Nov. 25, 2025. Image credit: Roscosmos/Anadolu/Getty Images

The Spin

Pro-Russia narrative

Russia's space program is far from dead — it's stabilized and rebuilt military space capabilities over the past decade, maintaining roughly the same share of space power it held in 2007. Luna-25's failure is one data point, not a trend, and Russia's active testing, rendezvous operations and cyber capabilities prove it remains a serious space power. Dismissing Russia based on one crashed lander is dangerously naive.

Zlatti71 on X The Spacereview

Anti-Russia narrative

Luna-25 crashed because Russia reportedly added a bloated, unreliable "import-substituted" control unit onto it — seven times heavier than the original and it failed at the worst moment. Every deep space probe Russia has launched since 1991 has failed or been shelved, and corruption gutted Roscosmos from the inside. This isn't a stumble; it's a dying program propped up by propaganda.

Mikhail Khodorkovsky on X Ars Technica