Russia plans 5 unmanned flights to Moon for upcoming decade

Russia is not shutting down space research projects amid the economic crisis, yet some of them have been delayed until 2025, Lev Zelyony, director of the Russian Academy of Sciences' Space Research Institute, has said.

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"A so-to-say non-improvement of the economic situation is ongoing, and we may expect more cuts. Not a single project has been shut down but some projects have been postponed; the works will be done for the next decade but the launches per se will take place after 2025," Zelyony told reporters on Feb. 4.

These include such complicated projects as the launch of two space vehicles to the Sun, he said.

"We have managed to preserve the lunar program, not a manned one but a program of research by automatic vehicles. Five flights to the Moon are planned for this decade," the scientist said.

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