If successful, it could be the first to do a soft landing on the south pole of the moon. Roscosmos, Russia's space agency, launched the Luna-25 mission on Friday morning from the Vostochny Cosmodrome in the far eastern Amur region, Russia, Reuters reported. The Soyuz-2.1b rocket is carrying a lander, which Roscosmos will try to land on the south pole of the moon on August 21, Reuters reported. The south pole is a crucial strategic objectiveRussia isn't the only nation vying for the south pole. Russia's ambitious return to the moon was delayed by invading UkraineRussia's Luna-25 mission, the first moon mission in over a decade, aims to put a rover on the south pole of the moon.

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Persons: Roscosmos, Lev Zeleny, Luna, Maxim Litvak, Peter Byrne, Ukraine Russia's Luna, space.com Organizations: Service, Russia, Luna, Vostochny, Reuters, Russian Academy of Sciences, Space Research Institute, NASA, REUTERS Luna, European Space Agency Locations: Russia, India, China, Wall, Silicon, Amur, Liverpool, Ukraine, Handout, Luna