Russian Luna 25 lunar lander moves into an unpredictable orbit and collides with the Moon

After losing contact with Luna 25, Russia's mission to the Moon has ceased to exist, Roskosmos has reported. 

According to the Luna 25 flight programme, the spacecraft was to enter a pre-landing elliptical orbit. However, contact with Luna 25 was soon lost.

Roskosmos noted that attempts to locate the spacecraft on August 19 and 20 and to connect with it were unsuccessful. 

"According to preliminary analysis, due to the deviation of the actual impulse parameters from the calculated ones, the apparatus moved into an unpredictable orbit and ceased to exist as a result of a collision with the surface of the Moon," Roskosmos said in a statement.

Luna 25 was launched from the Vostochny cosmodrome in the Amur region on August 11. It was supposed to be the first-ever station to land at the Moon's South Pole.