Russian crewed lunar missions are projected to commence after 2040, according to Roscosmos cosmonaut Ivan Vagner. These plans remain unapproved, with the initial focus placed on utilizing the Moon to refine long-term space habitation, landing techniques, and logistics. Such developmental activities are expected to span until the 2050s.
The roadmap for deep space exploration involves transitioning to crewed missions to other planets only after sufficient experience is gained on the lunar surface. Meanwhile, China is expected to land humans on the Moon within the current or next decade, prompting questions regarding the specific objectives of their lunar presence.
Current Russian lunar efforts rely on robotic exploration. The Luna-26 mission is tasked with remote sensing and capturing stereo imagery of polar regions, while also serving as a data relay. Furthermore, the Luna-27.1 and Luna-27.2 landers are scheduled for 2029 and 2030 to analyze soil at depths of up to 1 meter and test landing systems.
