MOSCOW, Aug 21 (Reuters) - The race to explore and develop the moon's resources has begun and Russia must remain a player despite the failure of its first lunar mission in 47 years, the head of Russia's space agency Roskosmos said on Monday.
Russia's Luna-25 space craft spun out of control and crashed into the moon on Saturday after a problem preparing for pre-landing orbit, underscoring the post-Soviet decline of a once mighty space programme.
"Today it is also of a practical value because, of course, the race for the development of the natural resources of the moon has begun.
And in the future, the moon will become a platform for deep space exploration, an ideal platform."
Russia has said it will launch further lunar missions and then explore the possibility of a joint Russian-China crewed mission and even a lunar base.
Persons:
Roskosmos, Russia's Luna, Yury Borisov, Vladimir Soldatkin, Gareth Jones
Organizations:
NASA, Artemis Accords, Thomson
Locations:
MOSCOW, Russia, Handout, Russian, China, United States