The chief of the Russian space agency Roscosmos on Monday advocated for Russia to stay in the lunar race, a day after announcing its mission had crashed.
“In no case should the lunar program be interrupted, that would be the worst decision,” Yuri Borisov said in an interview on television.
The Luna-25 mission was meant to mark Moscow’s return to independent Moon exploration in the face of financial troubles and corruption scandals and growing isolation from the West.
But on Sunday, Roscosmos announced the probe had crashed during pre-landing maneuvers.
“Interrupting the lunar program for almost 50 years is the main reason for the failure” of Luna-25, Borisov said.