A Soyuz-2.1b rocket booster with a Fregat upper stage and the lunar landing spacecraft Luna-25 blasts off from a launchpad at the Vostochny Cosmodrome in the far eastern Amur region, Russia, August 11, 2023. Roscosmos/Vostochny Space Centre/Handout via REUTERS/File photo
MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russian scientists have started processing the first data received on the Luna-25 spacecraft after switching on the scientific equipment on board for the first time, Russia’s space agency Roscosmos said on Sunday.
"Luna-25 continues its flight to the Earth's natural satellite - all systems of the automatic station are working properly, communication with it is stable, the energy balance is positive," Roscosmos said in a statement published on the Telegram messaging app.
Russia launched its first moon-landing spacecraft in 47 years on Friday in a bid to be the first nation to make a soft landing on the lunar south pole, a region believed to hold coveted pockets of water ice.
"The first measurement data on the flight to the Moon has been obtained, and the project's scientific team has begun processing it," Roscosmos said.
(Reporting by Reuters; editing by Guy Faulconbridge)
