MOSCOW, December 29. /TASS/. Russia’s Federal Space Corporation Roscosmos has given up most of its lunar projects but this won’t affect scientific exploration of the Moon, Deputy Director of the Space Research Institute at the Russian Academy of Sciences Oleg Korablyov told TASS on Tuesday.

"Roscosmos has given up most of piloted projects for the Moon. What is important is that the federal space program for 2016-2025 has retained automated programs for the exploration of the Earth’s satellite. That is why, the decision to give up most of piloted programs won’t affect the Moon exploration," Korablyov said.

Russian scientists plan to implement five automated programs for the exploration of the Earth’s satellite as part of the 2016-2025 state program, he added.

"Most space researches can be carried out in the outer space with the use of automated vehicles. In particular, we plan to explore the Earth’s satellite with the help of the Luna-25 landing probe. Then we plan to launch the Luna-26 orbital spacecraft and the improved Luna-27 polar probe that will bring lunar soil to the Earth, after which we’ll launch a lunar surface vehicle. As you see, all the automated projects will be implemented," Korablyov said.

Next year, work will be continued to prepare the first three spacecraft for their launch to the Moon, he said.

"The launch of the first Luna space vehicle is planned for 2018," the scientist said.